BBMP tears out market sheds; vendors stage a protest in the middle of Sampige Road.
Even while the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is battling with the vendors at Russell Market in Shivajinagar over the reconstruction of the market building, it has once again fell out with the vendors of Malleswaram New Market on Sampige Road.
On Saturday morning, the division officers of BBMP West, along with a team of workers, started tearing out nearly 50 market sheds on the road. Police too were present during the evacuation.
Soon, the vendors started a protest. They sat on the middle of the road shouting slogans against the BBMP and the police. N Venkataswamy, president of Malleswaram New Market Fruits, Vegetables, Flowers Merchants Association, also took part in the protest.
The vendors’ protest resulted in a traffic jam. The police closed the road temporarily and diverted the traffic movement. When Malleswaram police station inspector Sridhar announced that the cops will resort to force if the vendors do not clear up, they moved their protest to the footpath.
At 12.30 pm, the police cleared the road. Meanwhile, general secretary of Dalit Sangarsh Samithi and Footpath Hawkers’ Association, CS Raghu, visited the market and expressed his support to the vendors. Later, Malleswaram market vice-president Subbaraju and union secretary Tangavelu conducted a meeting inside the market with the vendors. They have decided to meet Malleswaram MLA Dr Ashwath Narayan to discuss the issue.
No time to clear
The vendors of New Malleswaram market alleged that the BBMP officers gave notice to only 17 shops on Wednesday. “The bill collector had come to hand over the notice to us to clear the passage, which was encroached. Immediately, the association conducted a meeting with the vendors and decided to clear the passage themselves. However, on Saturday, the BBMP came with their men and took away our belongings,” said Shivaji Rao, a vendor.
“There must be a minimum notice period of one week. Had we not shifted after the notice period, the BBMP can seize the shops. But now, in a span of three days, they came with the police and evicted us,” he said.
BBMP, in its press release, issued a different statement. It said that the public as well as the Malleswaram Market Association had requested the BBMP West Division revenue officer (RO) to clear the encroachments by some shop keepers, as they were causing inconvenience to the public by setting up their goods on the passageway. The RO had sent a notice to the shop keepers to vacate the encroachment within three days. As the shopkeepers continued with their business, the BBMP with the help of police removed the encroachment, said an assistant revenue officer (ARO).
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