Hyderabad at the moment is on the road to a new look. Now, a city’s new look raises questions about whether the result is good or bad, especially because some of us miss the dear old familiar sights, while others are excited about how the city is developing. A view from the flyovers brings this out in sharp relief.
No, the city isn’t getting a makeover but the growing efforts to ease traffic and facilitate a comfortable commute are surely affecting our familiar sights (L&T Metrorail can kindly take the credit for a lot of this). The decision to close some of the existing road crossings and turns and opening up newer ones instead were presumably taken after working on a sensible plan by the Hyderabad traffic police. Yet people can’t help missing the old, familiar sights. Nowhere is this more visible than from atop the flyovers that bring in fresh images and could wipe out memories of the way the city was.
“I love capturing the images of popular junctions with each development. In a few years from now, ‘out of sight, out of mind’ will play with us and we will begin to forget how the city looked with this new addition. Take the road down from Khairatabad flyover to Somajiguda or Panjagutta. The huge hoarding which would attract every motorist’s attention will not be seen anymore. Or the view from the Raj Bhavan side to the road that takes us to Lakdi-ka-pul. That used to be one straight view until a point, but soon all that one will see is the Metro. I have several favourite spots to capture and I am waiting for the Metro rail work to get a definite shape and stand minus the scaffolds,” says Sanjay Borra, a freelance photographer and vlogger.
Then there is the view from the Anand theatre flyover to the Parade Grounds flyover that ends near Bishops House. The view from here used to be a magical one, almost like riding a wave; Climb up. Down. Up again. And when the sky was cloudy and with less traffic on the road, it was absolutely picturesque. But now the eye has to fight to adjust to the new, almost -parallel bridge coming up on the side. “I guess we will begin to like it too, once the works are over. Then imagine the excitement of taking a photo as a train zoom pasts you,” exclaims Edwin E.
“Criss-crossing multi-layered flyovers in photos of travel magazines from abroad used to excite me, make me wonder how it would be to be there. Hyderabad doesn’t yet have any of those. But when I realised that the Metro will go over the Somajiguda flyover for a tiny stretch, I have begun looking forward to its quick completion. The view from the flyover at the moment is just ugly, now I want my little stretch of the ‘foreign’ city look,” giggles Priyanka P, a freelance event manager.
Metro is indeed a new addition to the city’s infrastructure and could be for the good of all as well, but until it gets complete, we will have to deal with the scaffolds, suspenders and metal bridges.
“Rome was not built in a day, let’s wait and watch. See how well organised and beautiful Habsiguda looks at the moment after the work has got some definite shape and look,” says a Daisy Rani, a resident of Tarnaka who is eager to be a Metro pass holder. “I will say bye-bye to driving and cabs. Hope I am not disappointed.”
