Charminar lacks basic seating despite grand redevelopment plans

Despite ambitious plans to develop Charminar like the Taj Mahal area, basic facilities such as seating are still missing. Visitors struggle daily, while locals and stakeholders question delays in the long-pending redevelopment project despite significant public spending.

Hyderabad: While the State government talks of grand plans to develop the vicinity of Charminar on par with that of Taj Mahal at Agra in Uttar Pradesh, the ground reality at the historic monument in Hyderabad is that decades of ‘Pedestrianisation Project’ works have failed to provide even seating space for visitors.

Scores of people visit Charminar and its surroundings every day and the rush only increases during the winter and summer vacations. Much to their dismay, visitors end up having to squat on the floor of the monument or head to a hotel nearby in search of a chair to sit.

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“There are no benches around the monument where one can sit, relax and admire the grand architecture and built of Charminar. Some visitors head to Mecca Masjid and sit there while others go a kilometre away to Chawmahalla Palace,” said Muneeruddin, a local tour guide.

Jupally Krishna Rao, Minister for Tourism and Culture, on Wednesday visited the monument along with the officials and shared that the State government aims to develop Charminar on the lines of Agra to attract tourists.

However, the reality is that the Charminar Pedestrianisation Project works aimed at beautification of the surroundings of the city’s most popular monument and giving an aesthetic look were formally proposed in the late 1990s and gained momentum around 2010. The project was later rechristened as Charminar Historical Precinct Revitalisation Project.

As part of the project, traffic around the Charminar was diverted and directed towards the Outer Ring Road and Inner Ring Road, both running within a radius of 2 km of the monument. The heritage monuments were revamped around Charminar. Plans were to maintain uniformity in the signboards of shops, matching street lighting and other things. There were plans for the construction of multilevel parking complexes to facilitate parking of visitors’ vehicles.

“Huge amounts running into crores have been pumped into the project, but except for flooring works around Charminar, nothing much has happened so far. Officials come, make promises and go,” said Mohd Sayeedullah Baig, a local shopkeeper.

Meanwhile, Charminar MLA, Mir Zulfeqar Ali, who visited Charminar along with Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, told media persons that the AIMIM party had repeatedly represented to the government about the Charminar Historical Precinct Revitalisation Project. “We hope the works will be expedited and the project completed soon,” he said.