HYDERABAD: Hyderabadis are well set to welcome 2024 as the weekend saw large groups of people going on shopping sprees to look their best, buy luxury items and shoot reels for their social media profiles at popular locales.
Malls and commercial areas were bustling as people flocked the make the most
of year-end discounts.
Popular locales, especially those located on the stretch from Tank Bund to
P.V. Narasimha Rao Marg (Necklace Road), were filled with crowds jostling
for space, with heavy demand for boat rides in the Hussainsagar.
The Nehru Zoological Park has also been witnessing footfall of around 20,000
people over the past week, clocking 30,000 visitors on December 24. Authorities, expecting the crowd to cross the 30,000 mark on New Year’s Eve, are undertaking preparations to better facilities, press into service battery-run carts and opening more counters for sales.
Establishments, mainly pubs, clubs and dance floors, are also set to ensure
a smooth transition into the New Year.
Jaya Prakash, the general manager of a popular brewery in Jubilee Hills, said: “In a first, we will be playing Bollywood numbers on New Year’s Eve. Our in-house DJs will be playing music till the night.”
Mamadi Kishan, the general manager of a popular restro-bar in Gachibowli,
said that popular singer Pranav Chandran would be performing at the establishment. “Our customers are preferring live bands playing for them, as they welcome the New Year,” Kishan said.
An outlet of a popular café in West Marredpally has also been booked to capacity on New Year’s Eve, with citizens preferring mocktails and an array of food, from cakes and pastries to pizzas and lotus stem starters, opting for such outlets.
Baldev Singh, a proprietor of the café, said their specialities include tex-mex paneer pizza, crispy lotus stem, peri-peri chicken, Veracruz food, green detox & smoothy bowl, blueberry cheesecake, Scarlett, nocciola, decadence noir cake and caramello, among others.
“There is a good response as the New Year is approaching. Our outlet at Sainikpuri is also getting big booking for the New Year’s Eve,” Singh said.
Minhaj Hussain of an Arabian establishment at Shamshabad, said the bookings are heavy for December 31. “Here, most of our customers opt for camel rides
and spending time with their families in Arabian-style cottages,” Hussain
said.
Gowtham Reddy, proprietor of a popular liquor boutique, said: “Since Friday, the sale of liquor has shot up and this heavy sale will continue till the night of January 1. People are mostly opting for premium beers and Scotch whiskey.”
