Hyderabad’s Old City markets suffer 50% drop in shoppers amid heatwave

Severe heatwave conditions have led to nearly 50% drop in footfall in Hyderabad’s Old City markets. Traders report declining sales as tourists and shoppers avoid daytime visits due to lack of facilities, heat stress, and traffic congestion, worsening financial strain.

Hyderabad: The heat wave conditions in the city are robbing the traders of their business, particularly in the Old City, where there is a significant drop in shoppers.

Traders complain that due to the hot summer, people are staying away from the markets, resulting in low business.

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“Usually, during summer holidays, there is a steady flow of local tourists from Telangana and AP to the Old City. Due to the extreme heat conditions, tourists are staying away from the markets during the day,” said Mohd Dilawar, who runs a garments shop at New Laad Bazaar.

On average, around one lakh people visit the markets in the Old City on regular days. However, since the first week of May, the numbers have come down by nearly 50 per cent.

The shopkeepers point out that the foreign or domestic tourists from North India are visiting the Old City but limiting their tour to historic places such as Chawmahalla Palace, Charminar and Mecca Masjid.

“A drawback for tourists to stay away from the markets is that there are no facilities for them. There is no shelter to stand or a proper place to sit. Not even an AC bus stop where at least they can sit and relax,” said Rakesh Jain, a trader at Gulzar Houz.

A few shops have air conditioners on the stretch between Charminar and Madina Building. “So people are preferring big malls for shopping. If visiting the Old City is unavoidable, then people plan a visit in the evening. Again, during evenings, there are traffic issues, and people feel they are being punished for visiting the Old City,” said Nadeem Ahmed, another businessman.

Due to the low business, the shopkeepers are facing financial problems and fear it would be difficult for them to pay rents, power bills and salaries of staff if the situation continues. “The power bills for the month of April were already hefty, and we literally struggled to pay them. Now I don’t know how I will manage to pay the power bills and rent for May. The only option left is to take out a loan and repay it later,” said Tareq Khan, a cloth merchant at Patel Market.