Vendors on Sethuram Street, adjacent to Krishna Rajendra Market (K.R. Market) here, on Tuesday staged a protest against the proposal to widen the road and develop the market.
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) officials on Monday night began removing the metal fencing around K.R. Market facing Sethuram Street. However, they stopped work following traders’ protests. The vendors protested again when the authorities tried to resume work on Tuesday morning.
BBMP sources told The Hindu that the police helped convince the vendors to cooperate with the civic body’s development plans for K.R. Market.
“There is a dilapidated building on K.R. Market premises which houses four shops. The BBMP has been issued several notices to the shopkeepers in the past five years. Final notice was issued to them 10 days back,” an official said. The official added that after demolishing the old building, BBMP would widen the existing road to 60 ft and make it a concrete road, besides constructing toilets and a ramp to the second floor of the market, which is vacant. “The road is now just around 20-ft wide. If it is widened, it will facilitate smooth movement of vehicles. It will also help the BBMP improve infrastructure in the market,” the official added.
BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayana said the fencing, which was on a storm-water drain, divided the road. Vendors would tie tarpaulin sheets on either side of it. So the narrow road would often be blocked, he said.
