Merchants at Russell Market may have to wait longer for getting electricity back to the 80-year-old market in Shivajinagar. They met chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Friday to pursue their case.
Merchants at Russell Market may have to wait longer for getting electricity back to the 80-year-old market in Shivajinagar. They met chief minister Jagadish Shettar on Friday to pursue their case.
Though the chief minister assured of providing power and water supply within the next 10 days, the traders may have to wait longer to actually benefit from the assurance. “We met the chief minister seeking help to bring our business back. The BBMP commissioner also appreciated the work we did,” said Mohammed Idrees Choudhury, general secretary, Russell Market Traders Association.
Traders were annoyed when BESCOM officials refused to supply power to the market last week. “I have a copy of the letter from the BBMP commissioner asking BESCOM to restore power. But it has not happened. When we asked them, they told us to talk to the local MLA. We spoke to BESCOM’s east division in charge who told us that they cannot restore power even if BBMP asks them to,” Choudhury said.
However, BESCOM officials denied receiving the letter and said BBMP has deemed the market structure unfit for occupation and that unless it is demolished and rebuilt, they cannot restore power. “We have to first get permission from the electrical inspectorate and the BBMP before restoring power. We will do it if we get a green signal. We are aware that the chief minister has told the shopkeepers that he will consider their request positively. We will look into the matter soon,” said BESCOM managing director P Manivannan. The market was gutted around eight months ago. Over 200 shops, including flower, fruit, vegetable and meat shops were destroyed in the fire.
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