Metro work halts at Sultan Bazaar

Hyderabad: Work on the Metro Rail project at Sultan Bazaar has been halted as hawkers wanted to set up kiosks on the road for Ramzan. Work will will be resumed after Id ul Fitr, officials said.

Mr Govind Rathi of the Sultan Bazaar Traders Association said the hawkers were affected and wanted the work to be stopped till Ramzan.

The foundation work for 10 pillars has been completed. On Saturday, Hyderabad Metro Rail authorities demolished a portion of the Sardar Patel Bhavan Trust building at Koti, he said.

The hawkers had represented their case to the Hyderabad Metro Rail and it has been agreed that the work in Jain Mandir lane, which hosts  many hawkers, will be done after Ramzan.

The hawkers are also miffed that HMR is not speaking about their compensation. Mr Abdul Rasheed, a fruit vendor, asked, “Where is the rehabilitation plan for the hawkers? Not a word is being said about that. We had accepted the terms and conditions because we were assured of rehabilitation. Instead, now we are asked to go away. Where will we go? We have been doing business on this road for 10 years. Why are they not considering our problems?”