The year of democratic tumult for Hyderabad

The year of democratic tumult for Hyderabad

The year 2023 will go down as a year of democratic tumult in Telangana. A year which saw a new government take reins of power from a regime that helped carve the new State just under a decade back. The State got a grand new Secretariat named after Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and this was also the year where the Chevella banyans got saved thanks to some democratic institutions. The out-of-bounds CM’s Camp Office, known as Pragathi Bhavan, is now transformed into Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan, and sees hundreds of people queue up on Tuesdays and Fridays to get their complaints redressed. 

It was also the year when the last titular Nizam Mir Barkat Ali Khan Siddiqi Mukarram Jah, Asaf Jah VIII passed away in Turkey and his body was brought to be buried in the compound of Mecca Masjid near Charminar. The matter didn’t end there. Within a few days, two claimants appeared out of nowhere for the Nizamate that had disappeared in 1948. 

Two of the last bastions of British era became accessible in 2023. While the Residency Building housing the Koti Women’s College got a makeover and became accessible after decades-long conservation effort, the Bollarum Residency too was thrown open to civilians for a fee. The Bollarum Residency, which was rechristened Rashtrapati Nilayam after Independence, is the winter retreat for the President. Now, citizens can log in to a website and book their 40-minute visit that gives a glimpse of British life as well as the life led by the President. But the biggest change was in the heart of Hyderabad which saw a ₹1000 crore splash transforming the area near Telugu Talli statue into a visually dramatic public space. The 265-feet high Secretariat with its 34 Venetian domes stands in close proximity to the 125-feet high Ambedkar Statue and the 147-feet high lamp of the Martyrs Memorial.  

The democratic change is not limited to the physical world and an online portal where citizens can file Right to Information applications became active in 2023, albeit for a short duration. The Telangana High Court stepped in to save the Victoria Zenana Hospital from being razed to make way for a multi-storeyed parking lot for cars. 

One of the unfulfilled promises remains the excision and merger of Secunderabad Cantonment with the GHMC though some steps have been taken in that direction. The Secunderabad Cantonment is a legacy of the British rule where the East India Company stationed its troops at the beck and call of the Nizam. 

The city hosted the Formula E-Race for the first time in India. But not everyone was happy as the traffic flow went for a toss. The city is set to host the event for the second time on February 10, 2024. This was also the year, Hyderabad got a covered cycling track that girdles part of the Outer Ring Road and stretches to 23 kilometres. How the city is changing and expanding could be seen from a real estate deal where a builder bid ₹100 crore for an acre of land near Kokapet near Gandipet.  

It was also the year the city had to part the company of balladeer Gaddar aka Gummadi Vittal Rao and well-known editor Zaheeruddin Ali Khan.