K.R. Market vendors’ woes may be addressed soon

Karnataka Bangalore: Members of Mata Amritanandamayi Math cleaning K.R. Market (Krishna Rajendra Market or City Market) as part of Cleaning Drive to mark 60th Birth Anniversary of Matha along with BBMP officials and Pourakarmikas on 01,09,2013. Photo: V Sreenivasa Murthy


Armed with brooms and shovels, students of Amrita School of Business and Amrita School of Engineering spent their Sunday cleaning the K.R. Market area along with workers of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

At the end of a three-hour-long exercise, around 12 truckloads of garbage were cleared.

BBMP Commissioner M. Lakshminarayan lauded the efforts of volunteers.

Acknowledging the problems faced by vendors at the market, Mr. Lakshminarayan promised to carry out civil works in the coming months to address their grievances. He directed Joint Commissioner (West) of BBMP to make immediate arrangements to ensure that rainwater did not seep inside the market. After seeing the rainwater that had entered basements, he also directed the official to make sure that proper drainage facilities were created and maintained at the market.

V. Balakrishna, vice-president, Bangalore Flower Merchants’ Association, said there was no ventilation and waste disposal mechanism at the market.

‘Be diligent’

Meanwhile, Lokayukta Y. Bhaskar Rao who was present at the event, urged officials to perform their tasks diligently and said there was a need to bring more awareness about waste segregation in the city. “Places like markets, where there is heavy waste collection, need special grants and cleaning should take place three times a day,” he said. Mr. Rao also urged the BBMP Commissioner to make adequate arrangements for drinking water and toilets on the market premises.