Title - Hyderabad Metro Works – GHMC serve notices to Lifestyle and other landmark buildings

HYDERABAD: Landmark buildings on the Begumpet main road are disappearing to make way for the Hyderabad Metro Rail project. Last week, it was the turn of White House, Lifestyle and Varun Motors, landmark buildings on either end of the Begumpet flyover, to receive the notices from the GHMC.

Although the demolitions will be partial, it is enough to change the contours of the city as its landmarks will not be the same as before. According to the notice, of the three blocks comprising White House, at least half of the first block adjoining the road will have to be demolished. Likewise, the open space belonging to Lifestyle building is to be acquired for the metro rail project leaving little space for passage and setback. As it would reduce the mandatory floor area ratio (FAR), there is a possibility that the Lifestyle building may have to forego one floor in order to comply with the building norms. And in the case of Varun Motors, more than half of the building would have to be demolished. Apart from these structures, Country Club has also been served with the land acquisition notice and will have to forego a major chunk of open space for the rail project.

The property owners of White House and Lifestyle received the land acquisition notice last week issued by the GHMC authority in-charge of the metro rail project. They have been given time till July 29 to file their objections and the owners are getting ready with the argument that the metro alignment has been designed with a sharp curvature near Begumpet just to save the chief minister’s camp office because of which their land is being taken away.

“Studying the metro rail alignment plan, it is clear that the curvature given to it is very sharp and not in line with the set standards. This has resulted in the taking away of our land in an unfair manner. We are dismayed that this is being done just to save the CM’s camp office building from demolition,” Suraj Prasad Agarwal, owner of White House building.

While the minimum radius of curvature allowed for the metro rail alignment is 120 metres at any turning, in the case of the one near the CM’s camp office, the radius of curvature has been relaxed to 100 metres because of which the train has to slowdown at that point before picking up speed again. The property owners rue that this deviation has resulted in a gratuitous demolition of the buildings which have been landmarks in Begumpet for almost two decades.