To footpath book vendors

Footpath book vendors have seen heydays till 2006 after which these shops were removed due to road widening and many vendors relocated to the cellar of a building opposite to Osmania Medical College in Koti. But the vendors complain of not being able to muster even 10 per cent of the business they once did.

In the past, the demand was so high with students making a beeline to these roadside secondhand book shops that offered books at cheaper prices. They also used to exchange books with these traders for a small amount. During the past 10 years, the woes of vendors multiplied and they appealed to the State government for support and protection from harassment of officials.

According to a rehabilitated secondhand book seller, Aziz, the infrastructural amenities are poor in the Koti cellar. “The lighting in the cellar is poor. Water seeps into the place in case of a drainage pipe leak in the vicinity. The area emits a stinking smell due to poor ventilation; customers hesitate to step in to the cellar because of mosquito menace and women hesitate to visit the place because of security reasons like darkness in the area,” shares Aziz.

“Therefore, customers are willing to buy books in showrooms at a higher price instead of buying them from roadside shops,” he reasons. Another vendor Raju said that the volume of the business was not even 10 per cent when compared to the earlier days. “As the business is not brisk, out of 80 shops allotted not even 20 are opened daily. The book shops, once a hub of activity, are wearing a deserted look.

Out of 145 odd books shops that abutted the Koti Women’s College compound wall, only 80 were allotted shops in the cellar. The rest of them were driven to the streets. Some of them, including Balaswamy, Ibrahim and Sudhakar, are selling books on the footpath in front of Government Maternity Hospital,” he recalls.

A vendor, Ibrahim alleged that harassment from police is also high as they turn away customers citing obstruction to movement of the traffic. Therefore, vendors have once again appealed to the government for support, infrastructural amenities in the cellar besides relief from the police and official harassment.

By Naresh Sankepally