Hyderabad: Businesses on Banjara Hills Rd No 12, especially smaller ones, are suffering due to the heavy police and VIP presence on the arterial road, more so due to the Telangana police’s Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC) as well. Normally unaffected, even the premium Cafe Niloufer Lounge opposite the ICCC was reportedly shut for a while on Monday, June 16, by the police.
Cafe Niloufer was shut for a while as Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president turned up at the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) office (at Banjara Hills Rd No 12) over a case he is facing due to alleged corruption in the Formula-E race that took place in 2023 during the previous BRS government. Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy has also been regularly holding meetings at the ICCC.
One of the reasons why Niloufer was shut was because the CM reportedly had a meeting there on Monday as well, due to which Congress leaders had also gathered, said a police source.
However, smaller businesses on Banjara Hills Rd No 12 have been affected for quite a while, and some of the shop owners claim that the police asked them to shift.
The TG ICCC was inaugurated in 2022 by ex-chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. The building has been designed to house technology teams working in back-end operations to support field policing. It also acts as a Disaster and Crisis Management Centre, housing all the related government departments. Given its importance, many VIPs, including ministers and senior officials like IAS officers from the Telangana government, are at the building.
“We tried talking to the local police, but even they were helpless, and my shop finally had to be vacated from the building because it was reportedly causing traffic jams. Many cars line up outside generally during peak hours, and that became a problem, so we had to shift,” said a shop owner whose establishment was a stone’s throw away from the ICCC building.
One of the more well-known places near the ICCC building that has been shifted from its proximity was a famous dosa place on Banjara Hills Rd No 12. It was so popular that it would at times cause a small beeline of cars during the night.
Another shop owner, who had a roadside stall, also said that others, such as himself, were asked to move by the cops. It may be noted that Niloufer Cafe is exactly opposite the ICCC building, and that the U-turn on the road often causes massive traffic jams if vehicles slow down.
Plus, the presence of other VIPs in the area, like Uttam Kumar Reddy, whose residence is also on the road, is another contributing factor. “As the CM is coming to the ICCC building, to avoid disturbances, the shops have been asked to shift to avoid any problems for traffic and law and order,” added the police.
