Scores protest against outsourcing upkeep of Church Street

But local traders, residents back the BBMP's idea

Scores of people turned up on Friday to protest against the purported privatisation of Church Street, the city’s showpiece commercial hub. Local traders and residents, however, welcomed the BBMP’s move to outsource the road’s maintenance.

In April, the BBMP had invited tenders to wash Church Street twice a week.

The protesters, associated with the Forum for Urban Governance and Commons, accused the civic body of “splurging” taxpayers’ money and “abdicating” its responsibility. They feared hawkers will be removed from the road once the private contractor takes over. They want the BBMP not to privatise any TenderSURE road.

“After paving Church Street with cobblestones, the BBMP now says it doesn’t have the equipment to wash them and is hiring a private firm to carry out the maintenance,” Kshitij Urs, the convenor of the forum, said. “They have already spent a lot on developing this road.”

He called the move to remove hawkers “regressive”.

He continued: “We want the BBMP to practise a new way of governance where there is complete transparency in road designing.

“It should consult ward committees and experts before designing any road. Church Street is environmentally unsustainable as it has no place for trees. Even the palm trees have dried up.”

Mayor R Sampath Raj, who met the protesters, denied that the BBMP was privatising the road. “According to experts, cobblestones should be washed twice a week with a hydraulic spray. We planned to deploy security guards to monitor the contractor’s work. But if you don’t want us to do it, we will not do it as the tender process is not over yet. We can have a meeting to discuss this matter.”

Tara Krishnaswamy of the Citizens For Bengaluru, who joined the protesters, opposed the outsourcing. “Why should we pay tax to the BBMP if it’s going to hand over the job to a private firm?”

The protesters hope all the issues would be discussed at a meeting with the mayor.

The Church Street Occupants’ Association, however, supported the BBMP. K P John, a resident, said: “We struggled for one and a half years to get this road done. We do not see any harm in the BBMP outsourcing the maintenance of the road.”