Is there a way I can change a column data type without dropping the index.
With disabling option it can't 'ALTER INDEX ALL ON ' + @tablename + ' DISABLE '
Logically speaking this should not be possible. You are changing the underlying data type, so reindexing has to happen.
So if you have a number
column and you change it varchar
then database will have to rearrange things which implies index will have to be recreated.