Charminar: Residents stall bollard works

Charminar: Claiming that Eastern (Sardar Mahal) side of Charminar was mostly residential area, the locals on Tuesday stalled all the works of installing Hydraulic bollards. Even the local MLA and corporator backed the residents' argument that it would cause a lot of inconvenience to them.

The project of installing hydraulic bollards was started in May under Charminar Pedestrian Project (CPP) and in its first phase the works near Gulzar Houz (northern side) was completed in July. The second phase of works near Laad Bazar were started in September. Even during these works several complications caused delays and bollards were yet to be installed near Laad Bazar.

The works of 3rd phase were started near the Sardar Mahal side, which not only added to the woes of pedestrians, but also thrown open many questions to the residents who now face logistic problems. According to residents, this side of the Charminar is residential area and the residents would face inconvenience, in case they come up on this side. The residents demanded that the authorities change the plan and asked the officials to leave a lane (galli) where the residents live, as bollards won't be rolled down unless there is some emergency or VIP visit.

On Tuesday, Charminar MLA Mumtaz Ahmed Khan along with Patthergatti division Corporator Syed Sohail Quadri inspected the project site. According to an official source, MLA backed the area resident and instructed the officials to hold back the works. He asked the officials to keep him informed and take the locals into confidence when ever works would resume. Without proper discussions works cannot be resumed, he said.

Speaking about the project, Mohammed Jawaduddin, Service Engineer Hydraulic Bollards project, CCP, the 3rd phase of works were started on Saturday and around three feet road was dugged-up, but the locals stopped the works.