HYDERABAD: The GHMC’s plan to construct a cafeteria and public toilet opposite the main entrance to the Salar Jung Museum (SJM) is causing concern among museum authorities, who fear that the narrow stretch might get congested further and turn into a traffic bottleneck.
Following an order issued by the GHMC’s executive engineer of Charminar zone on August 13 for the constructions under the Safe City Project, construction work has started on the ground.
Museum authorities also expressed safety concerns and possible defacement of the museum’s entrance.
Dr A. Nagender Reddy, SJM director, told Deccan Chronicle: “The road in front of the museum is narrow and building new structures will pose a severe safety issue as visitors park the vehicles on the pavement and cross the road to come to the museum. Especially on Saturdays and Sundays, there is end-to-end traffic and this cafeteria will lead to further congestion. Moreover, having a toilet right in front of a world-renowned museum is very inappropriate.”
The director said that crowding in front of the museum would also lead to security issues, as there is a lot of VIP movement at the museum. “Often, even vehicular movement is affected. As far as visitors are concerned, the museum has cafeteria and toilet inside the museum premises,” Dr Reddy said.
The museum authority will write to the GHMC to stop the construction, the director said.
