Illegal Parking Makes Hyderabad Markets Crowded
At Charminar’s Madina, motorists often spend long periods stuck in traffic, especially during evenings and weekends.
Hyderabad:Traffic congestion continues to worsen in several of Hyderabad’s oldest and busiest market areas due to road and footpath encroachments, illegal parking and unregulated street vending. Areas such as Koti, Begum Bazar, Charminar’s Madina, and Monda Market, among others, witness severe traffic jams almost every day, causing inconvenience to commuters, shoppers and shopkeepers alike.
In many of these areas, vehicles are parked haphazardly along narrow roads, leaving very little space for the smooth movement of traffic. Push carts, temporary stalls, and roadside vendors have also occupied several stretches of roads and footpaths, forcing pedestrians to walk on the streets amid moving vehicles.
At Charminar’s Madina, motorists often spend long periods stuck in traffic, especially during evenings and weekends. Autorickshaws stopping in the middle of roads to pick up passengers further add to the chaos.
Mohammed Ansari, a cloth merchant at Madina, said, “I did everything I could to remove the roadside sellers — complained to the police, begged and even fought with them. But they keep coming back. I now have to stand and argue with two-wheeler drivers not to park on the road and create a traffic jam.”
Pedestrians say walking through these markets has become increasingly difficult. Many footpaths are either occupied by vendors or blocked by parked two-wheelers. “I regularly visit Begum Bazar to purchase household items, and every time it takes me nearly 20 minutes just to cross a small stretch of road. There is no space to walk properly because vehicles and carts are everywhere,” said Shashank. N, a shopper.
Residents and traders urged authorities to take strict action against illegal parking and remove encroachments from roads and footpaths. Shopkeepers have stated that traffic police remove illegally parked vehicles from time to time, but the vehicles get parked again the moment the traffic authorities leave. Many have called for better traffic management, designated vending zones and stricter enforcement.
