orld Heritage Day was kicked off by the Archaeological Survey of India by inaugurating a ramp for people with disabilities to access Charminar. Currently, there is no provision for wheelchair-bound visitors to access the monument. But, visitors can now access the monument from the Eastern side beside the dargah.
“We are moving the entrance from the northern side to the eastern side. We have created railings to ensure smooth movement of people to the ticket counter. It should be open in one week,” said an official of Archaeological Survey of India on Monday morning.
“The earlier ramp was obstructing the view of the monument. And whenever we had events, we had to close the access, but with this entrance we will have no such problem,” said V. Gopala Rao of ASI.
Instead of standing beside makeshift barricades, the entrance has a railing for visitors to stand in queue. “Earlier, people were forced to stand on the road and brave the traffic. But now, nearly 100 people can stand in these queue lines without having to worry about traffic and vehicles,” said Mr. Rao. While the monument is being restored from the inside out, it is being swaddled by a cobweb of wires and cables obstructing the view and defacing Charminar. To make matters worse, the police department has put up a high mast pole bang on the middle of the road with wires dangling out of a junction box. “The police insisted that it is the only place where they can control the other HD CCTV cameras,” said Mr. Rao.
