There is an unusual quietness around Charminar at all times of the day. It’s as if the vehicles moving around the monument have just disappeared. Well, it’s exactly what has happened. There are no vehicles around Charminar as the police have created roadblocks on all the four directions of the monument completely blocking the traffic.
The result: vast vistas from where the soaring minarets and the intricate craftsmanship of the monument can be admired. Also gone are the hustlers selling knick knacks, snacks and travel bags.
As a lone faux jewellery vendor tries to hustle a tourist, a uniformed policeman steps in and shoos him away. “Now people can come here and have tea in peace and spend some time looking at Charminar. Earlier, it was very difficult even to find some space to stand. My business has not declined and I am hoping it will only get better once the restaurants around here are allowed to stay open 24 hours,” said Aslam Siddiqui, whose father owns an Irani cafe near the monument.
Space for vendors
But the petty vendors who used to converge near Charminar for selling goods are a disappointed lot. “We have been protesting for the past three days as we have lost our source of livelihood. They have allocated space for vendors near the bus stand, but nobody comes there,” said Akhil Husain, who sells travel bags for a living.
“We don’t know what will be the long-term impact of this. Earlier, locals used to stop by here and buy fruits and other essentials. Now we will have to depend only on tourists,” says Muhammad Ali, whose shop abutting the Nizamia General Hospital not just sells Unani medicine, but also stocks fruits and soft drinks.
“Earlier, when we used to challan the pushcart vendors, they would say they are poor and cannot afford to pay the fine. Now, as we had to relocate them, we asked them for the number of pushcarts they have, and we came to know that many of them own four or six pushcarts. It’s a big racket. We have created space for 55 pushcarts near the old bus stand,” said a traffic police official involved in the negotiations with the hawkers.
Also gone are the vendors surrounding Charminar selling bananas, apples and other fruits from their brightly-lit carts.
“The stoppage of traffic is not a temporary solution. People come to Charminar to see the monument and not to buy fruits or jewellery. We have plans to develop it with amenities, seating arrangements as well as parking facilities. People will not feel cheated when they come to see it,” said B. Venkatesham, Tourism Secretary, at a recent interaction.
