The historical Secunderabad Club caught a massive fire on 16 January and destroyed the 144-year-old structure completely.
According to the fire department, ten fire tenders rushed to the heritage building on receiving the information. It took three to four hours to bring the fire under control. The whole building was burned down and turned to ashes. The Secunderabad Club was a heritage building with a rich history since 1878. According to the officials of the fire department, the building has a lot of combustible materials, which was a challenging part of putting out the fire. Many gas cylinders might also have exploded in the fire. Anuradha Reddy, a prominent heritage conservationist, member of Secunderabad Club and convenor of the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH), said that the club was established in 1878 during the British period and is one of the oldest clubs in India. The club was given heritage status by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) in 2017. The club had 8,000 members, including military officers, bureaucrats, diplomats, police officers, professionals, scientists and business persons. Image Source