Vendors say that they have not been informed about their relocation once the market is closed.
Vendors at Halasuru market on Bazaar Street are worried for their livelihoods as the Bruhat Bengaluru Mananagara Palike (BBMP) plans to take down the market.
Chanbhasha, President of the Halasuru market, said that they’ve received three to four notices from the BBMP talking about the restructuring of the market.
However, they have not assured to relocate the vendors to another location meanwhile they reconstruct the old market. “Our families have been living here for the past 150 years. Hence, it is not possible for us to shut our businesses without any assurance from BBMP.”
Various other vendors said that if BBMP gives them a temporary place to continue their business they would be willing to relocate till the Halasuru market is reconstructed.
BBMP’s final notice is yet to be out, hence, the uncertainty has created fear amongst the vendors as their livelihood is completely dependent on the business from this market.
Moreover, vendors said that the rent for the shops has been continuously increasing. It is now at Rs. 360 per month which has been as low as Rs. 50 few years ago.
Moreover with Goods and Services Tax and other tax collections, the rent amount gets even higher. BBMP has been collecting the rent on a yearly basis which becomes a big sum for them to pay in one go, they added. They want monthly rent collections so that they can pay smaller sum to handle the burden better.
The BBMP earlier said that their engineers had studied the market and deemed that the vendors should be evacuated as soon as possible to avoid ‘any mishap’.
