Secunderabad temple next to go for Metro Rail pillars

Hyderabad: The Yellamma Renuka Devalayam temple opposite YMCA, Secunderabad, and a small chilla near the demolished Jabbar Building will be shifted for Hyderabad Metro Rail pillars.

The temple will be shifted to an empty space behind its present location Till date, the Hyderabad Metro Rail has shifted 16 religious structures to construct pillars.

HMR managing director N.V.S. Reddy said, “While dealing with religious structures, the department is extremely carefully. If it is a Hindu structure, my general manager and I deal with it, if it is a Muslim structure, HMR’s chief engineer, who is a Muslim, deals with it. Same is the case with Christian and Sikh structures.”

He added, “HMR had a tough time at Mettuguda. There was a grave opposite a church there and it was a sensitive issue. I contacted the priest and pursued the matter and managed to get the grave shifted.”

Speaking about relocation of other structures, Mr Reddy said, “The first temple to be relocated was the Yellamma temple at Nagole. Statues are also sensitive issues. In Bengaluru, the Metro was stopped for months due to an Ambedkar statue opposite the state Assembly.

“In Hyderabad too we encountered an Ambedkar statue in Kukatpally. I called the SC association and in their presence the statue was removed. The HMR did build another statue at Kukatpally, which has now become a landmark,”  he said.

“The Metro, as far as possible, avoids touching structures but when it becomes inevitable, we try to avoid the main structure and take the compound,” he added. The demolition of Garden restaurant will begin before this month end.