Church Street revamp becomes a spoiler for weekend revellers

Bengaluru: As Church Street is finally getting a revamp and the road is set to be closed for the next 10 days, the shops and establishments on this stretch are staring at a dull weekend.

Moreover, after the vehicle movement has been shut, the spillover traffic and parking hassles are visible on Brigade Road and the adjoining roads such as St Marks Road and Museum Road.

The facelift project has been undertaken by UnboxingBLR Foundation, an NGO, after the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the organisation under the “Namma Bengaluru, Namma Koduge” programme.

Kalleshappa, BBMP Executive Engineer (Planning), said that according to an MoU, Church Street would be maintained by the foundation for two years. He said the BBMP was not involved in the ongoing works.

Mixed response

The project has triggered mixed feelings among retailers in the commercial hub.

Those working on Church Street have started parking their vehicles on Brigade Road, thereby eating into the parking space of Brigade Road. This has, in turn, impacted customer footfall.

Suhail Yusuf, Secretary, Brigade Shops and Establishments Association, said there was a traffic pile up on Brigade Road on Tuesday, after vehicular movement from one end of Church Street to the other was halted in light of the ongoing work. According to him, weekend walk-ins would be affected by this work.

On the contrary, vendors on Church Street believed that the revamp was “much needed” after six years of “mismanagement”.

Karunakara of Blossom Book House noted that the revamp would make the street better. But Preetham Gowda at Bookworm felt otherwise. Recalling how “beautiful” the street was earlier, Gowda said due to restrictions on vehicles now, getting parcels and goods delivered to the store has become a hassle for several vendors.

Flower vendor stays put

Twenty two-year-old Rajini, who sells flowers on Church Street with her toddlers in tow, has decided to remain on Church Street despite the ongoing works, bulldozers and lowered footfall.

By 3 pm on Tuesday, Rajini had sold only two stacks of flowers. “Every street will have some or the other construction works going on. But I can sit here even in dust and sell flowers. If I change my mind and go elsewhere, I might not get any flowers sold,” she said.