Retired Army officers and historians have opposed a proposal to relocate Secunderabad’s nearly 80-year-old World War II memorial near Parade Ground to make way for a proposed elevated corridor.
The group staged an hour-long peaceful protest at the memorial on Saturday, urging the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) and the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) to preserve it at its existing location. The protest followed an SCB resolution passed at a board meeting on October 6 to shift the memorial for the proposed corridor.
The elevated corridor is planned to connect Gymkhana Grounds with the Outer Ring Road at Shamirpet along State Highway-I, also known as Rajiv Rahadari. The proposal places a historic military memorial within the footprint of a planned transport project, prompting objections from former service personnel and historians.
Colonel Sunkara Srinivasa Rao, a retired Army officer and representative of the Akhila Bharatiya Poorva Sainik Seva Parishad, Telangana Prant, criticised the relocation proposal in a press release. He said the memorial was not merely a stone structure but a symbol of military history and Secunderabad’s heritage.
According to Rao, shifting the memorial could undermine its historical identity and significance. He called on the SCB and HMDA to retain it at its present location for future generations.
The SCB resolution is the immediate administrative step behind the proposed relocation, while HMDA has been named among the authorities being urged to preserve the memorial. The report does not specify the corridor’s construction schedule, the exact design alignment around the memorial, or whether an alternative location has been formally identified.
The dispute brings together two public claims on the same urban space: the need to develop a major elevated road connection and the preservation of a landmark linked to Secunderabad’s military history. Any decision on the memorial’s future will involve the SCB and HMDA, with veterans and historians seeking its protection at the existing site.
