Food street shop owners excited about makeover

A makeover will help boost business, and address parking and hygiene problems, say VV Puram vendors

City’s iconic VV Puram food street, ‘Thindi Beedhi’, is all set for a facelift (see box). Vendors share their excitement with Metrolife.

Most shopkeepers are excited that the 200 m stretch will be getting modern amenities, which will “boost their business”. Ravi Shankar, who owns 35-year-old Shivanna Gulkun Centre, hopes the project will “finish soon to make it convenient for the public”.

Lakshminarayan, another shop owner, says, “The food street has not been hygienic enough but these changes should help.” Rahul Goswami, another shop owner, points out that such “changes will lead to a better customer experience.”

Customers who visit the ‘Thindi Beedhi’ are thrilled too, and hope problems they have faced in the past will be solved with the revamp. “Parking is an issue, and roads need to be widened. There are not many alternative roads to park. That needs to be worked on,” says college student Harsha. Hygiene is “an important aspect of food streets, and the revamp will help”, says Sahil, another college student.

Some have concerns — despite the makeover, the “charm of the food street must remain intact”. “I want the place to have a street food vibe and not a cafe-like vibe that we experience on Church Street,” says Vandana, a college student. An iconic place in Bengaluru, “it is visited by many for its original vibe”, adds Nihal, another college student.

Challenges aplenty

Despite positive responses, challenges remain aplenty, as there has been resistance to makeovers in the past as well. “The BBMP cannot widen the street but an alternative is conservatory lanes. There are drinking water and garbage disposal problems, and parking issues too,” observes historian Suresh Jayaram.

Proper regulations and a clever design are the need of the hour. “Maintaining originality while adding facilities, and keeping a balance between form and function are essential,” he adds.

BBMP says…

BBMP Zonal Commissioner (South), Jayaram Rajpura says that work on the street will be completed in four months. He adds that “requests from shopkeepers to renovate the street increased in the last four months”. About parking issues and new facilities, he comments, “There will be a conservatory parking space, in between middle lanes, at the entry plaza (at the entrance of the street), and there will also be parking from Sajjan Rao Circle.”

The plan

The proposed project will create better user amenities, fix uneven footpaths, and inconsistent signage. It will also look at conservatory lanes to counter parking problems and constant vehicle movement with the road to be closed for vehicles after 6 pm (only the main food street). Common handwash facilities, standing tables, grease and oil traps and fixed dustbins for waste collection, concreting the surface of the road, a new water line, stormwater drain system, footpath being widened (by 7 meters), carriageway being reduced by 7 to 5 meters, and roads to be paved with cobblestones, will be other features on the food street.