Hyderabad: A small section of people from the Old City, mainly residents near the Darul Shifa grounds, are opposing the Old City Hyderabad Metro Rail line expansion due to concerns that the project may damage historical monuments belonging to the Shia Muslim community in the area. A meeting was also held at the Darul Shifa grounds last week on the issue and participants said that they will approach the courts on the issue to petition against the work.
“The people whose homes are being affected are not getting the market value for their homes. Hyderabad Metro Rail authorities also gave wrong notices to people and there are a lot of other issues as well. Some of us are also part of an organisations that work to protect Shia Muslim organisations in Hyderabad. We want the metro to be rerouted little bit and towards the Salar Jung Museum and Nayapul. That way it won’t affect our monuments as well,” said Agha Alamdar Hussain from the Hussaini Organisation for Ashurkhanas Protection and Serenity (HOPAS).
The concern among the Shia Muslim community members is that the Hyderabad Metro Rail project in this new Old City line will affect historical monuments like the Bibi Ka Alam, Aza Khana-e-Zehra and Darul Shifa, all of which are mourning houses built to mark the martyrdom of Imam Hussain (the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad). The Bibi Ka Alam and Darul Shifa are monuments that go back to the Golconda or Qutb Shahi period (1518-1687), whose rulers founded and built Hyderabad.
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HMR officials however said that they did not wish to comment on the issue at this time, when asked about the matter. In the past when the Hyderabad Metro Rail was originally being built over a decade ago, the All Indian Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen had objected to it. Due to that and other issues, the earlier governments eventually develop the line connecting to the Old City.
After the Hyderabad Metro became operational in 2017, the blue (Secunderabad-HITEC CITY) and red lines (Miyapur-LB Nagar) were initially functional. After that the green line (Parade Grounds-MGBS) was added. On September 29, 2024, Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy approved the Metro Rail’s phase II corridors which includes the metro’s lines connecting Hyderabad to the airport, and also a line connecting the Chandrayangutta to MGBS line for the Old City.
A total of 116.2 kilometres have been approved for the new corridors for the Hyderabad Metro rail. The line to the airport will pass via the Aramghar.
“A meeting was held last week and about 500 people had come to participate in it. They are of the opinion that there are religious congregations of the Shia Muslim community that take place every year and that these will get disturbed. Apart from this, many others who do business on these routes also participated as their livelihood will get affected,” said one of the attendees, who did not want to be named.
He added Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR) officials had come to the area on Wednesday to reportedly seek consent for the project from those who are property owners. “However, that did not go well. We have to see what action the community takes,” the member told Siasat.com.
