JOIN USAs many as 80 shops at the Malleswaram Market area were razed to the ground on Thursday as the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) began its demolition drive to make way for a new shopping complex. In all, 248 shops will be demolished.
The BBMP and the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) would build a modern shopping complex on a public-private-partnership model in this 2.08 acre area.Even as officials claim that prior notices were given, many vendors were caught off guard by the demolition drive. Many of them were seen carrying the goods out of the shops as the earthmovers started demolishing them.
Lakshminarasiah, Joint Commissioner, West, BBMP, told Deccan Herald that on December 3, 2014, the first notice was issued to 48 shop owners to vacate the market. On December 6, 38 others were served notices. Rest of the shop owners were given notices before December. “We have assured that those who have proper documents would get shops in the new market as well,” he said.
“We have a copy of the court order and a letter from the BBMP commissioner to go ahead with the demolition. The demolition will take place in a phased manner as all shops cannot be demolished on a single day,” he added.
However, shopkeepers had a different tale to tell. N Venkataswamy, president of Malleswaram Market Association, said: “We are helpless. I knew nothing about the dates on which the demolition would take place,” he said adding that he was not informed in advance about it. Some shopkeepers claimed that the demolition was carried out even as the court was yet to take a decision on the fate of 30 shops.
Ramoji Rao, one of the shopkeepers who was served notice earlier, said the BBMP has not kept its promise to make temporary arrangements to all vendors. “I owned two shops in the now demolished building. My shops were 10 by 10 feet in measure. Now, I have been asked to adjust in a three by five space,” he added. Rao also claimed that the notice only said that he will have to vacate only one shop whereas he has now been told that both of them would be demolished on Thursday.
As many as 18 shops were demolished on Dec 12, 2014 under police protection.