Ameerpet: Busiest and commercially diverse

Ameerpet is one of the most important educational hubs of the city and is famous for software training institutes. It is located in north western part of the city and has become one of the busiest commercial areas. Most of the students aspire to get trained in institutes in the area and end up staying in hostels.

Till the early 1990's, the area mostly consisted of vacant plots and roadside restaurants to serve traffic along NH9 to Bombay. Commercial activity first shifted to the place from the centre of the city in the 1990s with the expansion of the northern suburbs of Hyderabad. Today it is a bustling locality with several commercial establishments along with high pedestrian and vehicular traffic.

History

According to history, the land was gifted by the then Nizam of Hyderabad to one of his jagirdars named Aamir Ali in early 1900s. He built a small palace as his summer home and used the area as a resort since it was densely vegetated and had a pleasant climate along with water bodies. This palace now houses the ‘Nature Cure Hospital’.

Prominence for Astronomy

Ameerpet became popular at the time of Nizams for astronomy. The third observatory of India called the ‘Nizamia Observatory’ was set up here in Ameerpet by the Nizams. In 1908, Nawab Zafar Jung studied astronomy in England and returned to Hyderabad along with two telescopes and an expert, whom he promised a net salary of Osmania Sikkah Rupees of Rs 1500 per month. He offered the telescopes to the Nizam, who ordered the installation of the telescopes at Ameerpet, where they remained for the next 50 years. The whole work of the ‘Carte due Ciet’ Hyderabad Section was completed under the direction of TP Huascaran, who had published the remaining volumes of the astrographic catalogue and this brought the work to a successful conclusion.

In 1923, the equatorial telescope by G Rubb was erected and a seismograph, Milne-Shaw pattern, was installed for the study of earthquakes and a second machine was added in 1929. A special underground chamber was constructed to house these delicate instruments. In 1928, at the request of the International Astronomical Union, the section of the sky originally allotted to the observatory at Potsdam (Germany) was undertaken by the Nizamia Observatory. The work of measurement and reduction was completed and three volumes were published by the International Astronomical Union . This observatory still stands at Ameerpet as a testimony to development in the area.

Commercial growth

Most of the settlers in Ameerpet were immigrants from other parts of the Andhra region and also others states namely Rajasthan, UP, Maharashtra, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. The value of land from early 60s and up to late 80s commanded higher prices than fancier areas like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills because of its close proximity to the highway and industrial areas.

Prominent establishments in Ameerpet include Big Bazaar, Chandana Brothers, Deco Aro, RS Brothers. Saradhi Studios, HUDA Maitrivanam, Huda Swarna Jayanti Complex, Aditya Enclave, Aditya Trade centre, Satyam Cinema Theatre, Ameerpet Gurudwara, V Care Multispeciality Hospital and Elephant House.

Ameerpet has SAP Street which is a popular for SAP training institutes. This street has a lot of posters, banners and hoardings about various institutes and the courses offered by them. The buses run by APSRTC connect Ameerpet with all parts of the city. The closest MMTS Train station is at Nature Cure Hospital. The proposed Hyderabad Metro will have Ameerpet as a changeover station between lines 1 and 3.