Hyderabad: The Charkandil Junction at Aghapura has a new look after the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) installed a giant lamp post with five lanterns at a cost of Rs 27 lakh.
Charkandil junction, which also means char kandil (lantern in Arabic), illuminated the road during the post Nizam era when streetlights did not exist.
Old timers recall that during the Nizam era, a separate wing was formed to illuminate and maintain the lanterns that were hung at important junctions in Hyderabad.
A worker of the local Baldia was assigned the task of lighting the lanterns after dusk. The person would walk around various localities and roads, holding a torch and lighting up the lanterns. The iconic Charkhandil junction had four lanterns that illuminated the junction and the road at night.
Every residential cluster had a man to do the job in the evenings. The practice continued even after the Nizam era ended and electric street lights were installed on the roads.
Similar lanterns were hung at Ek Minar Masjid Junction, MJ Market (old traffic police station junction), Alaska junction, Puranapul junction and other important points in the residential areas in old Hyderabad.
