Yeh Humara Shehar: Narayanguda the student’s hub

Narayanguda is one of the busiest suburbs located in the Central Zone of the GHMC limits with commercial and residential locations, educational institutions, historic institutes, government offices and bustling roads. The major landmarks are Institute of Preventive Medicine, YMCA, Madapati Hanumantha Rao Girls High School, Keshav Memorial Educational Institutions,

Raja Bahadur Venkat Rama Reddy Women's College, New Science College, Shanti Talkies, Tajmahal Hotel, Baptist Church and the Commissioner of Survey Settlements and Land Records office. Narayanguda was the first area in Hyderabad to be recognised as an educational area. Almost every college has a branch here and students are a common sight. Some of the famous colleges are Narayana, Ratna, Nalanda, Sri Vaishnavi including schools like Narayana Concept and Brilliant Grammar.

The neighbourhood areas are Chikkadpally, Ramkot, Himayat Nagar and Barkatpura. The prominent localities are Venkateshwara Colony, Vittalwadi Harihara Colony and the Gandhi Kutir slum. TSRTC buses available to all parts of the city. The closest MMTS station is Kachiguda located 2 km away, the Secunderabad Railway Station is at 6 km and the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport, which is 30 km away.

History
Dating back to the era of Nizam, the area was an abode for about 100 families from Uttar Pradesh, who had migrated to the city in search of livelihood. The manager of Deepak Mahal Estates, A Pundarika Prasad recalled, “Before 1916, Ramnarayana Jaiswal along with their relatives migrated to Hyderabad.

Ramnarayan used to supply “Neera” (a sweet toddy juice or palm tree nectar) to Mir Osman Ali Khan the last Nizam, which was mixed with perfume ingredients, such as cardamom, pistachio and almond specially brought from UP to give it fragrance and taste. After a few years, he requested the Nizam to provide shelter to his family and relatives.” Pleased with his services, the Nizam donated the area to Ramnarayan Jaiswal for permanent settlement.

Subsequently, his son Jeetlal Jaiswal started developing the area in his father name as Naraynaguda. He donated the land to Keshav Memorial Arya High School, including the approach road which is known as Jaiswal Road and constructed the Deepak Mahal in 1949.

At present, the third generation is looking after the affairs of the area. They proposed to develop the Deepak Mahal into a shopping mall for which they have applied for sanction with the GHMC authorities.

Problems
The locals complain there are no sufficient footpaths for pedestrians and that available footpaths are encroached by street vendors. The abandoned Police Station on the middle of the road needs to be removed. J Chandrakanth Rao, an IT Consultant, who is a regular user of the road, said, “The HMWSSB water tankers are parked on the main road everyday for filling water towards New Science College. It becomes very inconvenient for road users who pass through the way.”

The Keshav Memorial High School headmaster, said, “Keshav Memorial Jaiswal Road Arch on the main road was demolished two years ago by the Metro Rail Project authorities for widening the road with a condition to rebuilt the same. However, nothing has been done till date, in spite of two years after that promise.”