BENGALURU: Nearly a year after it was opened with much fanfare, the Krishnadevaraya Palike Bazaar in Vijayanagar -- labelled as South India’s first air-conditioned underground market — is already on the verge of failure. Despite being a Rs 13-crore project that took almost seven years to complete, the BBMP has still not floated tenders to officially allot the 79 shops. Meanwhile, about 25 vendors have illegally occupied the stalls and are running their business, albeit at a loss.
“This market was built for us, but we have been left out,” said Devaraj M from the Bengaluru Urban District Street Vendors’ Association. “We were surveyed in 2021, but none of us have been given shops. Instead, others, not from Vijayanagar, have moved in without any process.”
The market was meant to relocate street vendors from the busy service road in Vijayanagar. In 2021, BBMP had identified around 30 vendors to be shifted there. But instead of those who were officially surveyed, a different group of traders is now occupying the stalls without allotment or clarity on how they got access. Some of the vendors claimed they were permitted by BBMP following requests made through a political leader, but they refused to say who they have been paying rent to.
BBMP officials told TNIE that tenders for shop allotment will be floated soon but did not clarify how the current occupants came to be there.
Traders operating outside the complex have raised objections, saying those inside are not from the area and were never part of the original list. “These are unauthorised traders. If this continues, the whole project will collapse. BBMP must act,” said Devaraj.
Even those now operating inside the market admit that business is poor. With very little footfall, they say they are incurring losses daily. Traders blame the BBMP and the government for failing to promote the new market. “People don’t even know this exists,” said Suresh, one of the vendors. “There’s no signage, and on top of that, the white-topping work outside the entrance has made access worse.”
Many questioned the timing of the road work. “If it was needed, why wasn’t it done before the inauguration?” asked Prasad K, another vendor. “By the time this will be done, the public will forget about the market. Instead of digging up the roads now, the government should focus on promoting the market and filling the stalls properly,” he added.
