Visitors rue traffic jams at Charminar

Traffic snarls have become the order of the day at Pathergatti, Gulzar Houz, Madina Building, Mir Alam Mandi, Nayapul and Devan Deowdi much to the annoyance of the visitors and local residents.

Hyderabad: While Charminar and its surroundings are considered the most preferred tourist spots in the city for both domestic and international tourists, the area of late is gaining notoriety for its traffic jams and slowdowns.

Traffic snarls have become the order of the day at Pathergatti, Gulzar Houz, Madina Building, Mir Alam Mandi, Nayapul and Devan Deowdi much to the annoyance of the visitors and local residents.

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The problem is more persistent at Gulzar Houz where at least a dozen autorickshaws are parked around the fountain. “Due to the unauthorised parking, people face problems negotiating through the already narrow road stretch.

The traffic police, although stationed there, are just confined to the traffic booth,” complained Nooruddin, a resident of Khilwat. The traffic at the Mir Alam Mandi to Bibi Bazaar junction via the Alijah Kotla moves at a slow pace during the evenings.

“On either side of the narrow stretch, two-wheelers are parked. Right beside the Mirchowk police station, there are workshops which end up having vehicles kept on the road,” said another resident Mohd Faiz.

Regular jams in Madina Building stretch The traffic slowdown is witnessed regularly at the Nayapul to Madina Building stretch. The narrow road, part of the NH-44, sees many buses moving through the stretch often leading to traffic jams.

“During peak traffic hours in the evenings, it takes around 15 minutes to cross the stretch. The traffic police are seen at the junction but fail to move along the stretch and clear the parking,” Syed Feroz, a cab driver said.

In the summer months, visitors caught in the traffic sweat it out trying to escape the traffic gridlock. When contacted, a traffic police official said the traffic cranes are always on the move to clear the obstacles on the carriageway.

“We get alerts from the traffic control room and we put constant efforts to ease the traffic flow,” the official said adding the roads being narrow and traffic volume being huge, traffic slowdowns were bound to happen.