The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) on Wednesday installed electric bollards close to Hyderabad's iconic Charminar, in order to prevent vehicles from getting too close to the heritage structure. The initiative is part of the Charminar Pedestrianisation Project (CPP), which has been taken up by the municipal body.
The bollards, which only allow pedestrians to pass through, are retractable and can be pushed into the ground in case of emergencies.
"Electric Bollards installed at Charminar to demarcate pedestrian zone and restrict vehicular movement. Ambulances, fire engines and other emergency vehicles can be allowed," GHMC zonal commissioner, Musharraf Ali Faruqui tweeted.
#CharminarPedestrianisationProject
— Musharraf Ali Faruqui (@musharraf_ias) July 17, 2019
Electric Bollards installed @Charminar to demarcate pedestrian zone and restrict vehicular movement @arvindkumar_ias @CommissionrGHMC @ZC_Charminar pic.twitter.com/4m9oFMrpCI
The Charminar Pedestrianization Project (CPP) aims to pedestrianise a radius of 220 metres around Charminar, by diverting vehicular traffic through the Inner Ring Road (IRR) and the Outer Ring Road (ORR). With this, it aims to beautify the area around Charminar, on par with heritage sites across the world.
The entire pedestrianisation project is expected to cost around Rs 35 crore.
As part of the CPP, heavy machines were used by the GHMC in and around the 428-year-old monument, which had raised some concerns at the time.
This project by the GHMC has also resulted in a considerable loss of business for the dozens of street vendors around Charminar as they were displaced for many months.
Though not all the hawkers will be asked to relocate, dozens will still lose a significant amount of potential business.
Attempting to resolve the issue, Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi had previously urged the Telangana government to construct three bridges across the Musi river to help the displaced hawkers and street vendors.