BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court stated that the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s Gandhi Bazaar Market Street Redesign project aims to improve the management of the bustling Gandhi Bazaar area. The area hosts a large number of street vendors and attracts significant footfall daily.
The division bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind made these observations while dismissing a public interest litigation filed by Heritage Basavanagudi Residents Welfare Forum. The PIL challenged the project as ‘unscientific’ but the court rejected the claims after reviewing the affidavit and reply submitted by the BBMP.
The court also noted that the proposal involves widening of footpaths to accommodate street vendors and pedestrians, creating safer pedestrian crossings at key junctions, and introducing measures for better parking management. The proposal also provides dedicated bus stops with shelters, bays for pick up and drop-off, and areas for loading and unloading. Besides, vendors have been provided with specific areas to operate.
The court highlighted that the project which began implementation in December 2022, was in its advance stages, with 95 % of the work completed by January 2024.
The remaining 5 % includes tasks like providing temporary shelters to vending zones and protecting street vendors from the vagaries of weather. It was further noted that this work was also nearing completion. “An amount of Rs 24.88 crore is spent on the project and any modification and alteration will result in inconvenience,” the court said.