Point Blank | Market ready, but no street vendors allowed officially yet

Bengaluru: Krishna Devaraya Palika Bazaar in Vijayanagar, built at a cost of Rs 13 crore, hosts 77 stalls and some extra space.

This was inaugurated on August 25 by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Vijayanagar MLA M Krishnappa. During the inaugural, the MLA said the Bazaar was envisaged as a solution to the problem caused to residents and vehicles by street vending and solve conflicts between street vendors and shop owners.

Touted as Bengaluru’s first underground air-conditioned market with elevators and a lift, the market lacks two crucial things: toilets and a drinking water facility.

“I bring my own water from home. The toilet is upstairs near the circle. But the MLA has promised to build toilets inside and provide drinking water,” said a vegetable vendor who preferred anonymity. The bazaar has no CCTV or security yet.

Another vendor said he has been running his shop on the service road near the Metro station and has now been shifted to this underground market. “Not a trickle of water falls inside when it rains. It is safe and secure,” he said, thanking the MLA for the efforts.

All the allotted 40-45 stalls have one thing in common: A poster of the local MLA and his sons plastered on their walls.

None of the vendors here have any stall allotment letters. But they say the MLA has given them the stall, and they will get the official letters soon. As of now, they pay no rent to anyone. Some of them say the business has taken a hit after moving inside, but they hope for better footfalls once the market gets all the facilities and the formal allotment is done.

Ganesha (name changed), a flower vendor operating above the Palike Bazaar, said he also tried to get the stall but was unsuccessful. He hopes the stall will be allotted soon.

Babu says this is illegal as the allotment needs to be done with a tender, and procedures must be followed. “Those inside now are politically backed; most of them were subletting stalls and will do the same once they get the final allotment,” he adds.

The procedure for getting the stall is long. The contractor who built the bazaar should hand it over to the ward engineers. The BBMP’s estate section will give it a property identification number. Then, it goes to the Market section in the BBMP.

After this, the project division in the BBMP calls for a tender for stall allotments, with representation for SC, ST, OBC, minorities, women, physically disabled, and every other category. None of this seems to have happened in the Palike Bazaar’s case.

Manjegowda, a member of the town vending committee of South Zone, said that despite complaints, the BBMP has been unable to take action about this unauthorised allocation of stalls.

Radha, Assistant Revenue Officer, South Zone Market, told DH that the market had not been handed over to the market section. The concerned ward engineers have built the bazaar but are yet to transfer it. Once transferred to the Market section, tenders will be called to allow the stalls to be sold to vendors.