20 months on, Rs 13 crore Bengaluru's underground Palike Bazaar lies shut as vendors return to footpaths

GBA fails to monetise Rs 13-crore project; Taxpayer money goes waste.

As they feel that no customer would go to the underground market Photo| Nagaraja Gadekal

BENGALURU: Krishnadevaraya Palike Bazaar, the underground market located next to Vijayanagar Metro Station, was inaugurated with much fanfare 20 months ago. Yet today, all 79 shops remain shut, despite facilities like escalators, air-conditioning and a lift. The project was constructed at a cost of Rs 13crore.

Vendors to whom these shops were allotted continue to run their businesses on the footpath, stating that no customers would take the trouble to walk underground, which would mean zero business.

Naveen Kumar, who sells betel leaves on the footpath near the bazaar, was one of the allottees. He said, “More than 150 shops are running their business on the footpath on this stretch of nearly one kilometre. However, there are only 79 shops in the underground bazaar which were allotted, while the remaining shops continued to sell their goods on footpaths. This is why customers are not interested in walking down. When our shop was underground, we did zero business.”

“Other shop vendors who did not get shops in the Palike Bazaar threatened GBA officials and political leaders that they would approach court. They also alleged that officials and politicians had allotted shops only to those who were known to them, instead of allotting them to the original vendors. This is why all of us have got back to the footpath,” he added.

Govindraj, another vegetable vendor, said, “The facility created by GBA was actually good. With air-conditioning in underground shops, vegetables wouldn’t have rotted during summer. When we set up shop on the footpath, vegetables go dry and rot, causing losses.”

Though the Krishnadevaraya Palike Bazaar offers facilities like escalators, air-conditioning and lift, vendors prefer to ply their wares on the footpath outside Photo | Nagaraja Gadekal

Meanwhile, most of the vendors have kept materials, including baskets, huge umbrellas, chairs and tables inside their bazaar stalls, only to pick them up in the morning and set up their stalls on footpaths.

A senior official from Vijayanagar ward said, “Tenders have been floated several times for these shops. However, only four people have participated. Each corporation has to be generate its own revenue now. Keeping shops closed for a long time was difficult for us also as we were not able to generate a single penny. Vendors need to pay rent and deposit a certain amount of money as per the tender notification. Rents and deposits vary according to the size of the shops.”