Pickets replace shoppers at Chamrajpet in Bnagalore

Bull Temple road that cuts through Chamarajpet and Basavanagudi is always teeming with shoppers throughout the day, but on Saturday it was carpeted in silence.

Visitors were taken aback at the sight of residents and shopkeepers picketing on the road. The chant doing the rounds was a firm ‘NO’ against the road widening project proposed by the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP).

Hundreds of shopkeepers in Chamarajpet observed a bandh (strike) by closing their establishments throughout the day and sent a clear message to the government that they are in no mood to give their properties up to make way for a road. Local corporators also joined in, irrespective of party lines.

Responding to the issue, Mayor SK Nataraj said that he would review the feasibility of the project in Chamarajpet.

“The idea behind road-widening is to have smooth traffic flow. I am awaiting the memorandum of the residents of Chamarajpet about their problem with road-widening and act accordingly,” he said.

The mayor also said that just marking properties did not  mean that they would be demolished and people need not panic.

Dr M Satish Bonsle, president of Chamarajpet Varthakara-Malikara Hitharakshana Samiti, a shoppers’ association that spearheaded the protest, said that there was no necessity to spend crores of rupees on a project that was not required on Bull Temple road, 5th Main Road and 9th Cross. “We will wait for the mayor’s response to our appeal and will intensify our protests in coming days,” said Bonsle.

Chamarajpet corporator BV Ganesh said he supported the cause of shopkeepers. “I will raise this issue at the upcoming BBMP council meet. The road-widening will damage the traditional essence of Chamarajpet, named after the Mysore king Chamaraja Wodeyar,” added Ganesh.

“If the civic agencies think there is traffic problem in the area, the solution to the problem lies in better traffic management and not in road widening,” said Girish K, a member of the Enviromment Support Group, a green NGO.

“There are many old trees which are marked for felling,” he said.