Plan to decongest KR Market area in Bengaluru adds to apprehensions of traders

“We were not consulted and read about the government’s plans in the paper this morning. We have been conducting our trade here for decades and there is an entire ecosystem created here. It is also in the centre of the city and is convenient for all farmers to come and sell their produce here,” M Babu, a wholesale vegetable dealer in Kalasipalyam in Bengaluru, told HT.

A Karnataka cabinet decision to decongest Krishna Rajendra Market or KR Market in the state capital has raised apprehensions among the trader community who have conducted their businesses in this locality for decades.

JC Madhuswamy, Karnataka’s minister for law and parliamentary affairs, on Thursday said the ₹48 crore would be used for land acquisition and ₹52 crore for the construction of a modern and well-equipped market that would help decongest KR Market and Kalasipalyam, one of the most congested parts of Bengaluru. (HT)

Already witnessed problems due to Covid-19 pandemic-induced lockdowns, small businesses are anxious of how this move will impact their lives and livelihoods.

“We were not consulted and read about the government’s plans in the paper this morning. We have been conducting our trade here for decades and there is an entire ecosystem created here. It is also in the centre of the city and is convenient for all farmers to come and sell their produce here,” M Babu, a wholesale vegetable dealer in Kalasipalyam, told HT.

The Basavaraj Bommai-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government on Thursday gave its approval for a ₹100 crore plan to set up a vegetable market at Singena Agrahara in Gulimangala village.

JC Madhuswamy, Karnataka’s minister for law and parliamentary affairs, on Thursday said the ₹48 crore would be used for land acquisition and ₹52 crore for the construction of a modern and well-equipped market that would help decongest KR Market and Kalasipalyam, one of the most congested parts of Bengaluru.

The market will be set up in 42.31 acres and will be attached to the fruit market in Gulimangala, Madhuswamy said. He said there were plans to set up three more such markets that would keep most of the traffic and congestion in the outskirts, which are likely to come up near Magadi and Kolara.

Tushar Girinath, the chief commissioner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP, the city’s civic body), on Friday said the final order will be given out once the cabinet decision reaches the civic body.

He said the market shifting would come under the cooperation department and under APMC laws. “It is a welcome step as it will reduce the movement of vehicles and help us manage the waste produced here,” Girinath said.

This market almost works round the clock and the early hours each day are dedicated largely to the bustling and colourful flower market.

KR Market turned 100 years old in 2021.

There was a Kalyani or pond which was the source of water for the entire neighbourhood in the late 1850 where the market building now stands. The KR Market had borrowed its architectural design from Sir Stuart Hogg Market, now New Market, in Kolkata and the construction of the building itself began around 1920.

But poor maintenance of the building has taken away its sheen and it has become an eyesore for passerby as uncleared garbage, spitting, unregulated parking and unorganised establishments have added to its degradation over the years.