Hyderabad: Golconda fort visitors at a loss

Hyderabad: After a five month Covid pandemic hiatus, the historic Golconda fort was thrown open on September 1, by Archeological Survey of India (ASI) with new norms including online ticketing. At the time of opening, The Hans India had reported about visitors facing hardships in booking tickets online due to technical issues and many being digital illiterate, now seeing this as an opportunity to mint money, many internet centres started booking tickets online by taking extra amounts.

It has become a daily view of some visitors trying online ticketing process on their smart phones at the entrance gate of the fort and after failing to book these tourists visiting nearby internet café. With no physical ticket booking available and unable to get tickets online, the visitors are forced to shell out extra monies at the unofficial booking centres.

According to the sources, several complaints regarding the online ticketing have been lodged to the concerned officials. "The visitors who are unaware of online process and who fail to book a ticket are visiting nearby shops for booking tickets. The official entry fare for the fort is Rs 20, but these people are charging Rs 30 to Rs 50 for each ticket and making money," said an highly placed officer.

Source said that apart from charging more on each ticket, these people are also giving duplicating the online ticket to 2-3 different visitors. As one ticket is valid for only one entry, these incidents are triggering ruckus among the shop owners and visitors," added the source.

"ASI had also issued a notice among the online centers not to charge extra amount on booking tickets for Golconda fort," an officer noted. "For purchasing 5 tickets for his family, the online center charged Rs 150 instead of Rs 100. These people are making Rs 10 on each ticket and some are charging even more," said Mohammed Muneer, a visitor.

Further the officer said "There is a dip in visitor's footfall after the fort is reopened. Earlier, the fort used to witness 1000s of visitors daily, but now it has fallen to around 300-400 per day." Also, the authorities have banned carrying food and beverages inside the fort due to Covid.