HYDERABAD: The ‘Footpath Mamool mafia’, operating around Charminar is back, almost immediately after the street side hawkers returned for business.
Goons and pahelwans are back to extorting ‘mamools’ or protection money from hawkers while the shop-keepers too step in to imposing and collecting a little ‘fee’ for allowing hawkers to peddle their wares in front of their shops.
In several cases, shopkeepers can collect anywhere from Rs 100 a day from each push-cart hawker, to a notch higher depending on location and nature of goods sold.
By an estimate, over 3,800 hawkers, including minors, do business on roads and footpaths from Nayapul to Shah Ali Banda, including on the Lad Bazar and Khilwat belt. The footpath’s eastern side in Nayapul is occupied by fruit-vendors.
The roads leading to Charminar, near and around the monument itself have sprung back to life after being nearly deserted for months during the lockdown. Not just the older shopkeepers who had…