Hyderabad: After two years of Covid-induced lockdown, just as they began to feel that life was slowly limping back to normalcy, torrential rains have dealt street vendors and hawkers a devastating blow.
With the monsoon in full force, hawkers and sellers are being forced to sell their wares while taking cover under trees or in small tents set up alongside the road. A bigger issue for the roadside vendors is that they lose money when it rains because most people shop at supermarkets. Many of them were forced to close their businesses due to low customer turnout since they lacked proper shelter to protect them from the rain.
N. Vijaya Laxmi, who sells meals for Rs 60 at Banjara Hills Road No. 10, thinks summer is the finest season for her business. “For 15 years, I've been offering complete vegetarian meals for Rs 60. I start preparing food in the morning at my home in Anandnagar, Khairatabad, and come to Banjara Hills by 10 am. Summertime is a busy time for business, but once the monsoon season hits, business slows down. I have no choice but to prepare food every day in the hope that it would be completely sold,” Lakshmi lamented. But despite the lack of shelter, she claimed that customers had been coming in, especially on rainy days.
Consuming peanuts while binge-watching Netflix is romantic for some people during monsoon. Selling the crunchy nuts is, however, incredibly challenging for the peanut sellers. M. Shivaji, a peanut vendor said, "I have been selling peanuts for the past 25 years. I start off in the Sriramnagar Colony and move on to the Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills. In the event of heavy downpours, I just pause for shelter and immediately resume my hopping.”
Kurumula Mlallesh Yadav and U. Nagesh, owners of a footwear shop on Road No. 4 Film Nagar in Jubilee Hills, assert, "There is barely any commerce during the monsoon since the rains frequently damage products. The items are being damaged while being transported when we pick up the inventory from Nacharam.”
