The Karnataka High Court directed BBMP to evict street vendors from footpaths and reallocate them.
The street vendors in KR Market are hesitant to vacate the footpaths, as they fear losing their business after the Karnataka High Court’s direction to evict street vendors from footpaths.
Abdul Salam, a peanut seller in KR market said, “I have been selling peanuts in front of the metro station for a long time. People who buy peanuts from me regularly know that I sit here. If the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) relocates me from here, I will lose my business.”
However, in the BR Gururaj Vs State of Karnataka judgement, in August 2023, the high court had directed BBMP to evict street vendors from the footpath and relocate them to vending zones.
According to a news report, DK Shivakumar, Dep. Chief Minister of Karnataka recently said, “Footpaths are meant to be used by pedestrians, they cannot be occupied by street vendors. Street vendors will be allowed to do their business at suitable locations, after valid registration with the authorities.”
N. Narendran, a BBMP official in the KR market office said “We do clear the encroachers at times. Sometimes their vehicles or weighing scales are seized and they are fined , but they will come back to the place again. There is also a building in the market allocated to the vendors, but most of the vendors are not willing to come.”
Salam added that the BBMP building can’t accommodate all the vendors and no one ever told him to go there.
Imtiaz, who lives near KR market said, “I have to cross the market after getting off the metro to go home. I usually shop from the footpath, I know certain street vendors located in certain places and I buy things from them which is more convenient than going into a building full of shops.”
Vikram Bhatt, an urban planner said, “KR Market is one of the biggest and most crowded markets in Bangalore which attracts a lot of people. Decongesting the market and providing proper spaces for all street vendors within the market can only solve the footpath encroachments and congestion in KR Market.”
