BENGALURU: About 100 fruit and flower sellers who have set up shops for over two decades at the Sarakki Market spend huge sums regularly to transport large quantities of goods from the Krishna Rajendra Market to their place of trade early in the morning.With both K R Market and the J P Nagar Metro station, which is at a walkable distance from the market, now connected by Metro, it could result in huge savings of their time and money if they can get on board Metro trains.
Balakrishna Murthy, a lemon seller, buys five huge bags of lemons from K R Market daily. “I spend at least `200 a day to transport it by luggage autos. I have been doing it for 20 years now and my transportation cost has only increased over the years.”
Asked if he plans to use Metro, he says he was keen on it but will have to travel by the train and study it properly. “If my cost comes down, it will be very good for me,” he adds. Allabaksh, who has been selling pomegranates in the market for nearly 15 years now, says that he may not use it as he brings his fruits from Huskur Gate beyond Electronics City. “Many of the vendors here bring goods from from K R Market daily. They can boost their business if they use Metro,” he says.
Yashoda, a florist, asks a pertinent question, “Will Metro allow us to transport all these items on trains? I do not think so.” A few other traders too also raised this query. The list of banned items on Metro trains does not specify fruits or flowers. Asked about it, Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said, “We cannot permit carrying of such heavy loads inside trains. We will look into the issue. We will sit with the vendors and hold talks on the issue.”