BANGALORE: Once known to be congested with barely any space to walk, Gandhi Bazar Main Road today bears a rather different look. With more foot-space and lesser vendors, the slabs of the pedestrian footpath have finally seen some light, thanks to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP)’s decision to evict the vendors who were impeding smooth pedestrian access a little less than a month ago.
But like every other recurring problem of the Palike and their work, the clearance drive too has met with little success. A walk down the lane and the presence of street vendors is not an uncommon sight. Though the numbers have drastically reduced, the presence of a handful of vendors is indication enough that the problem will ‘recur’.
The ‘bazaar’ constantly has police presence in the locality, but, undeterred by this, vendors go on with their work. “We make more business on the roads than by sitting inside the complexes,” said one of the vendors. The complex referred to, is a small area that can barely accommodate two dozen vendors, let alone the others hundred who were asked to move overnight. Though the Palike’s decision did disrupt these vendor’s livelihood, it did make space for pedestrians to walk. Though assurances were made, neither do the vendors have a permanent stall nor does the Palike have any idea of the ‘so-called’ land or space they had promised the vendors on the day of the eviction. “We are still looking for a place,” said BT Ramesh, Engineer in Chief , BBMP. When asked about the vendors who have come back to the footpath, Ramesh asserted that they too will be booted. “All the vendors who were evicted will be given a permanent place close to Gandhi Bazaar. However, the time period is a little uncertain. We are still searching for an appropriate place,” is what the engineer had to say about the situation at present.