HYDERABAD: With the holy month of Ramzan just around the corner and the buzz of shopping about to start, ATM kiosks around Charminar continue to run dry. The ghosts of demonetisation continue to pinch the public ahead of month-long festival.
The festival is about to start either on Friday or Saturday, depending on sighting of the moon. However, in a week or two from now, the entire Charminar area stretching to Falaknuma will remain buzzing with activity, as every year, with shopping spree running late into nights.
Though most of the very few ATMs that have cash are often exhausted within hours, some banks have been in the process of instaling new ones. At one such ATM kiosk of Axis Bank, over here, the cash machines are yet to be unboxed, forget about the network connectivity or timely loading of cash.
Trade affairs around Charminar demand for functioning ATMs as the majority of it is unorganised. “This is a tourist area and not having an ATM machine is a big disappointment. We as shopkeepers get questioned for lack of functioning ATMs,” said D Zahoor Ahmed, a gold merchant at Charminar. Liquid cash is mandatory for making purchases from street hawkers as most of them do not have electronic modes of receiving cash.
Many shopkeepers have already brought new stock for the season, but the crash may still have its affect if cash machines go helpless. Syed Khaisal, a cloth merchant, feels that the sales could be just above average this season. It is too early to say about the expected sales, but it can definitely take a toll if ATMs run dry, added Khaisal.
Meanwhile, the traffic police have extra force in place. “We have foot patrolling across the stretch of Charminar with ten constables guarding on either side of the road and police personnel will be working in three shifts,” said J Bhadreshwar, assistant commisioner of police, traffic police, Charminar.