Hyderabad: The capital of Telangana has lost another piece of its iconic heritage with the demolition of the historic Secunderabad railway station by the South Central Railways (SCR) as part of its larger plan to modernise stations across the country.
Images of the demolition, which began last week, have been doing the rounds on social media over the past one week, invoking nostalgia among the old-time Hyderabadis who have criticised the move by the railway authorities.
The front facade of the main terminal, which has been torn down by the SCR, was built in the 1950s. Secunderabad station, originally built in 1874, was the first built by the Nizams of Hyderabad after the Nizam’s Guaranteed State Railway was set up in the erstwhile state of Hyderabad to boost connectivity with other parts of India.
While heritage activists and architects from the twin cities have flayed the demolition of the old terminal, SCR officials maintained that it was not part of any protected list. “The Kachiguda railway station that was inaugurated by the last Nizam of Hyderabad Osman Ali Khan is on the state archaeology department’s list of protected monuments. So that will not be touched,” said an official who wished to remain anonymous.
The demolished structure was an art deco building, a form of European architecture that came to Hyderabad in the 1930s. Activists argue that even though it was not part of any list, the old building was an iconic place in terms of history.
“From a legal perspective, they can demolish it. You have to understand that it was an old building of about 75 years. The original was built in 1874, which was a stone structure. Does everything that is old need to be demolished for something to be built? It is a challenge for the project developer to give a state-of-the-art station without removing something like this,” said Hyderabad-based architect Srinivas Murthy, who is currently researching art deco buildings in the city.
According to the SCR, the Secunderabad railway station sees a footfall of about two lakh people a day. The redevelopment plan envisages a new ‘iconic station building’, a spacious roof plaza with passenger amenities, smoother traffic flow, multi-modal integration with east and west metro rail and bus stations, clutter-free platforms, and certified green buildings, among others.
The redevelopment will be spread over 1,65,566 square metres and currently phase-3 of the plan is in progress, according to the SCR. The project is expected to be completed by December 2025.
Heritage lovers fear that the other old station—Nampally—will also be demolished by the SCR.
Nampally station was built around 1905 during the reign of the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad Mahboob Ali Pasha. Nampally, along with Secunderabad and Kachiguda, are the three important stations in Hyderabad and Telangana. The Kachiguda station was designed by Jerome Vincent Esch, who also designed the Victoria Memorial in Kolkata.
“Demolishing something like the Secunderabad station’s old terminus is like erasing a layer of history from Hyderabad. It was reflective of the progress the city had seen. If they will not demolish something only if it is on a list, it shows we are not sensitive to our heritage. We should have some respect and preserve such buildings. The Secunderabad redevelopment could have saved the old building so people could have got a sense of how it used to look before the new one came up,” added Srinivas Murthy.
(Edited by Sudha V)
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It was not a historic structure so why hang on to it. I would rather fight for beautification and maintainance of existing Historic structures like King Kothi, etc. which is about to be demolished or already demolished. It should be preserved and converted to a Hotel like Faluknama or ASI should take control and rebuild it. There are so many structures in Hyderabad alone which can be beautiful tourist spots.