Kacheguda:Home to Kachis, Marwaris, among others

Kacheguda is an old suburb located in the central zone of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) limits. The city’s third biggest railway station is Kacheguda Railway Station. It is a major business centre known for the inexpensive textiles, readymade garments and footwear.

Inox and various shopping malls are located here. The popular hotels here are Tourist Plaza Hotel, Vaishnaoi Hotel, Panchratan Hotel, Nand International. Restaurants like Hotel Sweekar, Invitation Restaurant, Swaad Restaurant, Rambharose Idli Centre and Swaati Coffee Shop are also popular.

The other landmarks here are Tulja Bhawani Dharma Shala (estd 1931), Jain Dharmashala, Veeranjaneya Swamy Temple, Veerabhara Swamy Temple, Shambaba Mandir, Kacheguda Head Post Office (estd 1975), Kacheguda Police Station (100 years old), Nrupatunga High School (estd 1928), Rajabahadur Venkataram Reddy Women’s College (estd 1954), Bhadruka College (estd 1950), Vysaya Hostel (estd 1939), APSRTC Commuters Rest House and Commuters Amenities Centre.

The population here is made up of the Marwadi, Jain and Gujrati communities. There is a famous Jain Mandir adjacent to the Bank of India. Masjid Shah Miyan mosque is also located here. Sri Sai Krishna Neuro Hospital, Sri Venkatesh Borgoankar Nursing Home, Shalini Children's Hospital are present here.

Localities like Barkatpura, Chaderghat, Narayanguda, Koti and Abids are accessible from this station. Its importance is growing, as trains from northern India to southern India pass through Kacheguda Railway Station. The area is well connected to the rest of the city by the RTC which has a depot here. Kacheguda is 10 km away from the Secunderabad Railway Station and 30 km away from the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.

History

The name Kacheguda was derived from the Kachi community, which still has a good population near the Kacheguda Railway Station. Kacheguda Railway Station is one of three central stations in the city. Constructed in 1916 by the Nizam of the erstwhile Hyderabad State, it is now operated by the South Central Railway of the Indian Railways. The station was the headquarters of the then Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway.

The magnificent structure, endowed with central and side domes and accompanying minarets, has the aspects of Gothic style architecture. Shakeel, a spokesperson of the SCR, said, “The station handles trains originating for Indore, Bhopal, Aurangabad, Tirupati, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Nanded, Coimbatore and more.

Housing many modern passenger amenities, this station now serves as the headquarters of the Hyderabad division of the SCR. It is an A1 category station that handles 40,000 passengers per day with 130 trains and generates Rs 35 lakh revenue per day.” Over the years the names of many places have changed.

The hill on which Shambaba Mandir, Hanuman and Veerabhara Swamy temples was popularly known as Veeranna Gutta in the 1950s. It was a dense forest in those days, save for a few structures. The present Kacheguda X Roads to Tourist X Roads is known as Vira Savarkar Road, whose statue is still in existence. Prabhat Talkies has turned into a business house. Basanth Talkies has turned into Basanth Residency.

Problems

“The traffic problem is severe on the main road. It needs to be widened for the convenience of commuters,” added Someshwar, a senior resident.

By:CH Saibaba