Hyderabad: City tourist attractions turn a haven for petty vendors

Hyderabad : With the unveiling of 125-foot-tall Dr. B R Ambedkar statue in the centre of city near Tank Bund, the new attraction is gaining a momentum among people. It has turned into an employment zone for street vendors selling eatables. With people thronging the spot, they are delighted to earn some extra money.

Hyderabad is one of the most visited cities in India and has something for everyone; there are a lot of reasons why visitors throng the city. Hyderabad not only entertains and engages visitors, but also enables traders to make profit selling eatables, like snacks.

The statue area has turned a major picnic hub for the Hyderabadis and tourists; several families, especially on weekends, throng the place to have a gala time. The picnic hub includes parks and open space, like Lumbini Park, NTR Garden and a free space at Necklace Road. With development of the hub by the government and establishing longest water fountain and newly added Ambedkar statue, the area has been witnessing huge crowds, which provide extra sales for vendors selling appetisers.

On Sunday, several hundreds of people thronged the spot to see the Ambedkar statue. Street vendors selling chat, pani-puri, soda and ice-creams are making profitable business.

Santosh, a vendor, who sells chanachaat, said, "As several people, including kids, are visiting the place to see the tallest statue and have a gala time, the entire chat stock was finished in an hour. I earned around Rs 800, earlier it used to last at least three-four hours at week-ends," he added. With these new attractions, the sales have doubled, as people come in large numbers." Earlier, one member of a family used to sell chana chat, but now we also started selling pop corn and sweet corn," said Anita, another vendor, near the statue.

According to observers, earlier, there were a few vendors who used to sell popcorn, sweet corn, pani-puri, chat, ice-cream and other snacks, now with the newly added attractions, and people thronging the statue area, dozens of vendors have been added in the stretch at NTR Garden, and near the Statue.

"Walking along the Tank Bund Road with family is an awesome experience seeing the massive statue, water fountains and the colourful ambience. Walking around having snacks doubles the joy," said Divya Khatri, a teen, who came with her family. She said, "Each of them would be having at least Rs 50 chat in a family, as this chana chat and murmure usually are sold here only and not at other picnic spots in the city," she added. "It's good to see parents and families coming to the spot to relax and glimpse the tallest statue in the city," said Neelima of Neredmet.

"It is amazing to see new developments on the Tank Bund Road; it is peaceful to walk on the Tank Bund, especially at week-ends, say visitors.