Lalaguda Nerve centre of railways

Lalaguda is one the prominent hubs of Secunderabad. The area is popularly known for major South Central Railway (SCR) establishments and their proprieties since Nizam’s reign. Rail Nilayam, the head quarters of SCR, is situated near the vicinity of Lalaguda. Shanthinagar, Vijayapuri colony, Mirzalaguda, South Lalaguda, North Lalaguda are a few major localities among others in Lalaguda. The neighbourhood areas are Secunderabad Railway Station, Tarnaka, Habsiguda and Moula Ali.

Lalaguda is two kilometres away from Secunderabad Railway Station and 40 kilometres away from Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. The Metro Rail Project, which will pass through Lalaguda, is in full swing and will be a boon to the residents. A small area located between Lalaguda and Mettuguda is popularly known as ‘Little England’ due to the presence of the British families who lived here during the Nizam’s rule. About 100 Anglo-Indians families live here now.

And many of them work for railways. The beauty queen Diana Hayden who won the Miss World title in 1997 hails from this place. The major workshops in the area were established on September 30, 1893, under the aegis of ‘Nizam Guaranteed State Railways’ for undertaking periodic over hauling and repairs to BG and MG steam locomotives, coaches and wagons.

Subsequently it was brought under the purview of ‘Nizam State Railways’. Upon the formation of South Central Railway on October 2, 1966, it became a major workshop in the zone. It continued to be a composite workshop for MG and BG rolling stock till 1973. Due to phasing out of steam locos, the workshop took up a periodic overhaul (POH) of all types of BG coaches and was they were named as ‘Carriage Workshops’.

The workshop is spread over an area of 13.97 hectares. The workshop presently handles a wide variety of coach POH which includes ICF design coach, LHB coach, EMU, self propelled coaches like SPARME, SPART, DEMU, DHMU and Tower Wagon. Lalaguda Railway Hospital is one of the oldest and a specialty hospital for railway personnel.

History

According to historians, Lala was a noted architect of the second Nizam, Nizam Ali Khan, who ruled from 1762 to 1803. He built a fort near Moula Ali for his queen Jahniatunnisa Begum alias Bibi Saheba. The palatial fort was under the supervision of the Lala .The area between Lalapet and Mettuguda was known as Bibinagar in those days. After the queen’s death the place was rechristened as Lalaguda in honour of the architect.

Problems

The locals said that the main problem they face is the delay in completion of the Alugadda Bavi Road under Bridge (RUB), which was started a few years ago and it is still under construction. There is heavy traffic congestion daily and commuters undergo a lot of problems due to this. The representations given to the SCR authorities, State Government, GHMC and other agencies concerned did not yield any results and the project is still going at snail’s pace. The residents appeal to the authorities concerned to do the work on war footing and complete the bridge at the earliest.

By:Ch Saibaba