Since the construction started in February, merchants are suffering more than 50 per cent of loss in their business per month. The project is scheduled to be completed by September, but construction has been irregular.
By Vivek Madhu
Merchants near Cottonpet main road are facing huge loss in their business due to the ongoing renovation of the main road. The 1.14 km long road is dug up and left that way without regular construction.
The road which was undertaken by the BBMP’s TenderSure project, is almost impossible to use as it has been dug up completely, resulting in the lack of customers. Many small-scale merchants closed their shops due to the shortage of customers, the existing merchants said.
Mr. Shashwat Hosamani, Branch Manager of VRL Logistics Limited near Cottonpet road says his branch suffers a loss of almost Rs.3 lakh per month. “The situation has been the same since the beginning of construction. The customers hardly visit the branch. The water supply, telephone and internet are not consistently available.”
“They are not working regularly. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t. I am confused with their activities.” said Mr. Kulkarni, an employee of VRL Logistics. Since the road is dug up in front of his office, the company has not been able to offload the existing goods as no transport facility is available.
Due to the renovation, the vehicles are passing through the Sultanpet market road, creating frantic traffic jams inside the market. “The construction started in February. Since then all the vehicles are taking this route. The narrow road is now filled by vehicles. Due to the rush, the customers are avoiding the market resulting in business loss of 30 to 40 per cent,” said Mr. Ramesh, an employee of RB International, a paper dealer, on Sultanpet market.
BWSSB has stopped the Kaveri water supply to the area due to the drainage works beneath the road. “The construction will start regularly after the plumbing. It is expected to be finished in six months,” BBMP Chief Engineer KT Nagaraja said. BWSSB Branch manager, Nandini. V. said the drainage works are almost complete.
The dug up road has been troubling not just the merchants, but the school children nearby. As the transport facilities are not available, students are walking their way from the bus stand. It is also affecting the hotels and other small scale shops nearby.
