It’s rush hour in old city
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Ramzan shopping and poor traffic management are making traversing the Charminar area a nightmare. Lack of planning by GHMC in executing the Pedestrianisation Project is only adding to the woes of pedestrians and motorists.
The rush of shoppers increases almost three-fold in the first three weeks of Ramzan on more than 1 km stretch between Madina and Shalibanda via Charminar. On the last three days of the fasting month this stretch is closed for vehicular traffic at night as thousands visit these markets for Id shopping. “In the first place the GHMC has inflicted a devastating impact on our business by senseless erection of boulders as part of the pedestrianisation project. To add to it, traffic cops allow carts on the road. We are having a tough time,” says Rahul Agarwal, a jeweller.
“Though traffic and police authorities are aware of the difficult situation during Ramzan, no plan to ease the traffic congestion has been made. It takes more than half an hour to cross Charminar from Afzal-gunj during this season which normally takes only a few minutes when there is no traffic,” says Faheem from Shalibanda. “Ramzan has just started, after the first week of August when people will have received their salaries and will have money to spend, the number of shoppers will increase,” says another shopkeeper Abbas Mehdi. Alternative parking arrangements would have eased traffic congestion at Charminar, especially during the Ramzan season.
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