Bengaluru markets: A heritage of apathy, delays & poor planning

Though the markets in Bengaluru hold a special place in people’s hearts and the city’s culture and history, they have been victims of utter apathy of the authorities concerned.

The powers-that-be have done very little to preserve these spaces that people frequent almost every day. While most markets in the city lack basic facilities, others remain in a state of neglect.

According to an estimate by BBMP, at least 12 markets in the city are in a dilapidated condition and beg for urgent attention.

DH visited a few markets across the city to get a first-hand experience of why vendors are seen operating on footpaths and why they haven’t been given concrete shops as promised.

A vendor at the Ulsoor market said many shops in the market were in a poor state and the vendors have taken up minor repairs to prevent water seepage and other problems.

“None of the officials bothers to check if the markets are in a good state or listen to our grievances. There is no maintenance. It has been over nine years since BBMP took up any maintenance work at this market,” said Syed M, who runs a vegetable shop in Ulsoor market.

BBMP officials, on their part, said the challenges were aplenty.

“Even though we have issued notices, it is difficult to evict the vendors, to take up redevelopment works,” a senior BBMP official said.

The vendors, on the other hand, said the civic bodies have failed to keep the promises made to them.

Over the years, though a number of agencies have taken up redevelopment works, many of them are either stalled or completed without retaining the cultural heritage the place holds.

“Most vendors depend on day-to-day business. Take KR market or Malleswaram market for instance. The vendors have been waiting for years to get back to the market and do normal business. There are numerous such instances when civic bodies have failed to stick to deadline. Hence, vendors hesitate to make way for redevelopment,” said G M Diwakar, president of KR Market Flower Merchants’ Association.

Some vendors said their regular customers don’t come any more because of the lack of good infrastructure and poor accessibility to markets.

While evicting vendors and planning redevelopment is a major challenge, getting funds for the project is also a difficult task, BBMP officials said.

“There is a fund crunch to take up redevelopment works. Hence, we are not able to commit to a plan or give them a deadline on redevelopment works. Since the buildings are weak, we have no choice but evict them to avoid mishaps,” a senior BBMP official said. “Limited funds were allocated in the last two years, owing to the pandemic,” he added.

Also, thanks to shortage of funds, BBMP had proposed to the government to allow the development of these markets under public-private-partnership (PPP) model. But the proposal has neither been approved nor rejected, officials said.

Architectural significance

Retaining the architecture and the cultural importance a market has is crucial when taking up redevelopment works. Amid other challenges, the authorities seem to have given this low priority, experts said.

“Just replacing the existing building with a new one does not help. The markets have grown with the city and portray its character. They also have a story in them and it is important that they ensure that the character of the market is not lost during redevelopment. The history and ethos of these historical structures must be preserved for posterity,” said Meera Iyer, convenor of Bengaluru chapter of INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage).

The redevelopment works at Cox Town market, Madiwala market and others have proved to be failed attempts, she said.

A vendor at Malleswaram Market, where redevelopment work has been stalled for close to eight years, pointed out that the footfall at the markets will come down drastically if they do not retain the feel the market carries.

“As it is, we have seen a drastic dip in footfall since the works started. People visit the market to get all items in one place with ease. If they construct multi-level markets and disperse vendors to various levels, business will be affected badly,” said Muniyamma, a flower vendor at Malleswaram market.