The beehives of activity remained bereft of the usual buzz on Friday.
A day after twin blasts rocked the twin cities, the busiest places such as Sultan Bazar, Koti, R.P. Road and Secunderabad Railway Station Road sported a dull and dreary look.
In fact, there was a free flow of traffic in these business hubs and quite a few shops remain closed all through the day.
Lumbini Park and NTR Gardens, which opened for a while in the morning were closed by the afternoon following the police instructions, said a security guard at Lumbini Park.
Though commercial establishments, cinema halls and shopping malls were opened, there was not much of activity. Bus stations and railway stations, which usually teem with passengers, saw a considerable decline in the number of passengers arriving in the stations.
Decline in occupancy ratio
Everyday about 1,500 buses start off to different destinations from Mahatma Gandhi Bus station (MGBS) in the morning. Likewise, close to 1,800 buses arrive into the station but the seat occupancy ratio was hardly 40 per cent against the regular ratio of 70 per cent, said a RTC senior official.
Similar was the situation at railway stations. “Everyday nearly 350 motorists’ park their vehicles in our stand till afternoon, but on Friday not even 100 motorists turned up. It was a dull day,” said a worker at SSVS parking lot on the Secunderabad railway station premises.
BJP bandh
Besides, blast impact, Bharatiya Janata Party had called for a bandh and taking this into consideration, most people seem to have preferred to stay home to avoid inconvenience. Perhaps this could be the reason for a decline in passenger turnout, said a senior railway official.
However, security was beefed up at all the bus stations, railway stations and public places. At every nook and corner in the stations, police teams were seen scanning baggage with handheld detectors.
