Deccan Chronicle: Bengaluru: Monday, March 12, 2018.
With the BBMP
planning to set up an underground air-conditioned market in Vijayanagar,
several vendors, operating on the service road at the junction of 8th Main
Road, were recently told to vacate.
This Palike
bazaar will be built on the lines of Delhi’s Palika Bazaar, but activists
allege there is little clarity regarding the project.
The street
market has functioned for over four decades and offers a variety of items such
as vegetables, fruits, flowers and pooja materials. As of now, there are more than 150
street-side shops across a stretch of 500 metres on this road.
Street
vendors are uset with the proposal for underground market. “We are happy doing
our business here and who will come to the underground market to buy things?”
said S. Babu, President of Bengaluru Jilla Beedhi Vyapari Sanghatanegala
Okkuta.
In addition,
civic activists allege there is a lack of transparency and public consultation
regarding the project. Lekha of Alternative Law Forum said, “No one knows what
is happening. Despite filling a RTI months ago, I haven’t got any reply about
DPR (detailed project report) of the underground market.”
The estimated
cost of project is said to be around Rs 28 crore and it will accommodate only
45 shops. “They won’t be allocating these shops to the local vendors here,”
Lekha pointed out.
“There are
more than 150 street vendors in the market and the new market can fit in only
45 shops. What will the other vendors do?,” Babu said.
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