HYDERABAD: Hawkers and vendors have been hit hard by rains, as they battle weather conditions to erect makeshift shelters on roadsides to sell their goods.
Many also shut shop due to poor footfall. N. Vijaya Laxmi, a food vendor, who sets up a stall at Road No. 10 of Banjara Hills, said, “I have been serving full vegetarian meals for Rs 60 for 15 years. I prepare food in the morning at my residence in Anand Nagar of Khairatabad and come here by 10 am to sell the food. Business was booming during summer but once the monsoon arrived, it has dropped drastically. I have no choice but to cook every day with the hope that the food is completely sold.”
Kurumula Mallesh Yadav and U. Nagesh, who run a footwear stall on Road No. 4 of Film Nagar in Jubilee Hills, said there was not much footfall. “There is hardly any business during the monsoon as rains damage the products most of the time. We collect the stock from Nacharam and while transporting, the goods are getting damaged. We have to assume that there will be no rain in Nacharam, sitting in Jubilee Hills. But the fact of the matter is it would rain cats and dogs in Nacharam.”
M. Shivaji, a peanut vendor, said, “I have been selling peanuts for the past 25 years and I start hopping from Sri Ram Nagar Colony and cover Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. In case of heavy rains, I just halt and as soon as rains stop, I resume hopping. This season, most people like to buy peanuts in evenings."
