Dilsukhnagar: A congested commercial centre

Dilsukhnagar is one of the largest commercial and residential areas in the city which falls under the south and east zones of the GHMC. It is a densely populated locality dominated by middle-class residential and commercial centres. A majority of the residents are migrants from coastal Andhra. It is home to many educational institutions, coaching and training centres. Dilsukhnagar Public School and Gowtham Model School are the major schools. Many junior colleges and engineering colleges are also located in the vicinity.

Dilsukhnagar is spread over 30-km radius and packs nearly 20 lakh population. The Gaddi Annaram or Kothapet Fruit Market which was shifted to the area from Jambagh in MJ Market in 1980 now counts as one of the largest fruit markets in the world.

History

Dilsukhnagar’s name is attributed to a landlord named Dilsukh Ram Pershad. He formed the layout in 1960 and subdivided his land into plots and built a colony after converting agricultural land into residential plots. Now it has become a major commercial hub, surrounded by several colonies like P&T Colony, Chaitanyapuri, Kothapet, SBI Officers' colony, Gaddi Annaram, NGOs' colony, Kalyan Nagar and RK Puram. The Dilsukhnagar Bus Stand, termed as ‘floating population’, attracts migrants from rest of the country.

People from Andhra, mostly government employees and businessmen, who migrated to the city started buying properties and settled in Dilsukhnagar. After it became a part of the Hyderabad Urban Development Authority (HUDA) in 1975, Dilsukhnagar started expanding.

The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation has bus routes to areas such as Ghatkesar, LB Nagar, Koti and Malakpet. The nearest Multi-Modal Transport System station is at Malakpet. Dilsukhnagar also hosts a railway ticket reservation office. On an average, 10 lakh people use public transport daily from the bus stand which was a major target of terrorists.

Problems

K Venkat Reddy, SHO, Malakpet Traffic Police, said, “Dilsukhnagar was relatively a traffic free zone three decades ago. The traffic is now crawling due to the ongoing Metro Rail construction works. Crossing the main road for pedestrians is dangerous. As a result, there are many petty accidents reported every day at this busy centre.”