Hyderabad, India’s sixth largest city and capital of Telangana state, has its eye on the showiest city accolade around: it’s hoping to build the tallest tower in the world.
This week, K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the state’s chief minister, gave the nod to plans for 40 new towers around the edge of Hussainsagar lake. The tallest would be located in Sanjeevaiah park on the lake’s northern edge:
It’s not clear yet how tall the tower would be (though the government is adament it’ll be “the tallest”), but it would need to top 828 metres, the height of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, for a shot at the crown. To be safe, it should aim for at least 1,000m, the height of the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, due to be completed in 2019.
Rumours of the new development have been circling since last year, and local environmentalists are up in arms about the effect the project could have on the lake’s ecology. According to a report this week in The Hindu, though, the chief minister had an answer for them at this week’s meeting:
Allaying the apprehensions of environmentalists, he said the projects will be undertaken within the environmental norms prescribed by the Supreme Court. The sewage from the towers will not be released into the lake.
Well, that’s a relief.
