Hyderabad: The 83rd edition of the All India Industrial Exhibition, also known as Numaish, at Nampally exhibition grounds, experienced a surge in visitors recently. An estimate of around 45,000 people visited the exhibition on Saturday, and on Sunday alone, by 4:30 pm, large queues were seen outside its gates.
Touts are seen selling masks, toys, and making cotton candies outside the gates. Other vendors, in typical Hyderabadi accent, attract customers, “Dekho, dekho! Dekhne ke paise nahin lagte (See see! You don’t have to pay to see).”
Inside the gates, the stores are myriad, from clothing to cutlery, to lip-smacking food and amusement parks for an adrenaline rush.
“This is all because of Bollywood singer Javed Ali’s performance today,” said security personnel Sandeep. “I did not see such a queue even on the last day or any weekend so far,” he added.
Numaish usually sees 25,000 to 35,000 visitors on weekdays and around 45,000 to 50,000 on weekends. However, footfall has increased lately. “Until recently, the footfall was on par with what we saw last year, which was the highest with 2.2 million visitors. This year, however, by the last day, we are expecting around 2.5 million visitors. With new entertainment programmes in place, we are quite positive now,” said All India Industrial Exhibition vice-president, Satyender Vanam.
He further added that the more people come in the more contribution there is for students. “All India Industrial Exhibition is running 18 educational institutions with the contribution of people who visit,” he said.
On Sunday, at around 4:30 pm, most of the stores in the exhibition were busy. Eateries were crowded, and the amusement area saw long queues for tickets. “This year a young lady driver is debuting in the ‘Death of Well’; it has new cars and more stunts,” Satyender added.
Meanwhile, security measures have been tightened, and parking is full by 4:30 pm. Free parking arrangement has been made by Hyderabad traffic police which is available on first come, first served basis.
