Tourists Disappointed Over Dancing Fountain No-Show

HYDERABAD: Visitors and tourists to Hyderabad are a disappointed lot as the musical fountain show, inaugurated to much fanfare in the Hussainsagar in February, has been non-operational for the past few days.

Many, who came to the spot to view the musical fountain shows, waited for hours but in vain, as the authorities failed to pass on the information to the public regarding their cancellation.

The fountain is 180 metres long and 10 metres wide, comprising 800 jet nozzles, with the water spray ranging from 12 metres to 90 metres. The fountain operation is synchronised with music along with lasers. It was constructed by the HMDA at a cost of Rs 17 crore.

Sirish, a kid of a family visiting the city from Gajwel, said that his visit to the city had turned into a disappointment as he was looking forward to see the dancing fountain.

Kompalla Satyaphani Krishna, visiting the city along with relatives from Palakolu in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh, said that they waited until late at night. Still, neither the lights nor the fountains were switched on.

“This is very disappointing. It had got so many reviews on social media and the videos looked amazing. It’s not even been two months since its inauguration, but it is already in disuse. There is no information that it is closed either,” he said.
Akshaya, 12, and Aayana, 7, of Warangal, who were Tank Bund along with their uncle were disappointed. Their uncle Anirudh Tammna, said, “Online, it states the show is on, but we came here to find that there is no show. The HMDA should inform the people through the media that it is not functional. Such errors leave a bad impression about the city.”

Sufyan, a visitor who had come from Chandrayangutta along with his family, said: “This was our second trip to witness the musical fountain, but it was a second-time disappointment.”

Anil Bave, a vendor, said: “This fountain was functioning with multiple shows only for three weeks or so. Later on, the shows became irregular, with one show a day or sometimes none, but now it has completely stopped.”

An HMDA official said that the fountain was suspended as they were assessing a proposal to shift it to the P.V. Narasimha Rao Marg side; at its current location, it was leading to traffic congestion in front of the Secretariat and on Tank Bund.

The official, when questioned on the lack of public information, said: “It is not necessary on our part to give this matter to the media.”