Industrial activities came to a halt on Saturday across the state due to Karnataka bandh. Small, medium and large scale units in all industrial areas were shut down to express their solidarity to the Cauvery issue.
According to the Federation of Karnataka Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FKCCI), the State suffered an estimated loss of around Rs 1,667 crore because of dawn to dusk bandh on Saturday.
Various traders’ associations in the city said that the losses incurred were especially high because the bandh fell on the first Saturday of the month. Shops and prime commercial establishments remained closed all through day.
However, certain areas opened around 6 pm and picked up business towards late evening. Two major business hubs in the city --- Commercial Street and Brigade Road - suffered a huge loss. While Commercial street is learnt to have lost around Rs 40 crore, the Brigade Road recorded Rs 25 crore loss.
Ajay Motwani, Secretary of the Bangalore Commercial Street Association said, “Around 80 per cent of the shops on Commercial Street that deal with garments were badly hit. Since it is the beginning of Dasara season, people would have thronged the area, but we lost all those customers. On a weekday, we have a turnover of Rs 25 crore and this doubles over the weekend.”
Brigade Road, another hub of commercial activities, lost business to the tune of Rs 15-25 crore as all the 127 stores were closed along the stretches between the Sadhwani’s and Mota Royal Arcade and on the other side between the Cauvery Emporium and Opera Junction.
“Weekend business losses meant that these stores have an extra burden to make up for over the forthcoming weeks,” said Sohail Yusuf, Secretary, Brigade Shops and Establishments Association. He also added that shoppers who were planning to come down over the weekend will surely return during the week. “So we can hopefully make up for the losses,” Yusuf said.
As many as 5,000 jewellery shops in areas like Avenue Road, Malleswaram and Chickpet were shut. “We cannot really assess the losses, but since it was the weekend we were expecting to boost revenue,” said S Venkatesh Babu, former president, Bangalore Jewelers’ Association.
Meanwhile, 400 shops in Russell Market and 2,500 shops in the K R market complex remained closed. The Russell Market suffered a loss of Rs 25 lakh and the K R market’s lost business transactions worth Rs 1.5 crore, it is said.
