In a quintessential case of tareek pe tareek (a reference to inordinate delays), the Charminar Pedestrianisation Project (CPP) did not reach completion this year. Governments came by, but the move to protect the historic Charminar did not end.
Another Tareek
It was on April 1 in 2016 that Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) minister K. T. Rama Rao said that the project would be completed in 6 months. But this month, at a meeting with All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen legislators, GHMC officials and others, MAUD secretary Navin Mittal said that project is likely to end in Dec. 2018. Thus, another tareek. Even as the city waits the CPP to reach its logical end, the area around the monument have been cordoned off and stone slabs are being laid. Work along Lad Bazaar to Charminar and Sadar Mahal to Charminar is also in the offing.
Protests fail
While the CPP work seems to have taken off, the Hyderabad Metro Rail has not. Protests and political salvos demanding that Corridor – 2 – from Jubilee Bus Station to Falaknuma in the Old City via Darul Shifa – be a reality in the area did not amount to much.
