Rashtrapati Road

Hyderabad’s royal legacy lost in transition

Rashtrapati Road, formerly known as Kingsway, is a busy shopping centre in Secunderabad, which connects Sardar Patel Road and Tank Bund.

Some of the landmarks in the area include CMR, Chandana Brothers, RS Brothers, Chennai Shopping Mall, Bata Showroom (1940), Sarada Stores (1942), Pavani Studio (1954), TV Rajaiah Hardware Shop, Ananda Bhavan, Sukha Nivas, Ujjaini Mahakali Temple, Sunnipura Mosque ( Nizam era), Dargh Hazrath Syed Jalal Shah Qudos ( Nizam era),

Chinna Keshava Swamy and Sri Ugra Narasimha Swamy Devalayam (100 years old ), Andhra Samvardhani Library, Mahboob College (1862), Telephone Exchange, GPO and NTPC. The area is surrounded by Old British Jail, Monda Market, Ranigunj and General Bazaar. The major localities in the area include Ranrej Basthi, Paan Bazaar, Kurma Basthi and Boorusetty Bazaar.

History

RP Road was earlier popularly known as Kingsway as King George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George), the king of the United Kingdom and Emperor of India (Reign 1936 to 1947), passed through this way in 1940s. It was subsequently rechristened Rashtrapati Road after India attained independence. It was named after Dr Ranjendra Prasad, who was the first President of Indian Republic.

From 1940s to 1970s, Tangas or Jatkas (horse carts), bullock carts, bicycles and rickshaws drawn by men were the primarily sources for transport. Few buses of Nizam State were run as part of Nizam Railways. Double Decker buses used to ply between Afzalgunj and Secunderabad and some buses used to commute till Sanathnagar. Trailer buses also ran for some time but were subsequently withdrawn as the population burst in the city.

From 1960s to 1980s, Kingway was also popular for housing Telugu film distributing offices where theater owners in Hyderabad used to book films for screening across the State.

Problems

Local businessmen complained that the original size of the road was 100 feet and that of footpath was 15 feet but encroachments led to congestion. Parking is a persistent problem and shopkeepers are demanding a multistoried parking complex for the convenience of both customers and shopkeepers.