60-yr-old Fatima Bakery to make way for Metro station

One of the city’s oldest bakeries is set for demolition, with a Namma Metro station coming up in its place.

The 60-year-old Fatima Bakery and Supermarket is located across Johnson Market in Richmond Town. It is all set to make way for a Metro station. In 1957, V P Francis and his younger brother moved from Kerala set up the bakery in Bengaluru. After Francis’s death, his son V F David took over the operations.

“My father got the idea of starting a bakery some years after World War II as there were a lot of Anglo-Indians in the city. Koshy’s was the only bakery here back then,” David told DH.

In 1957, Francis set up a bakery on Leonard Road, also in Richmond Town.

Christian Solidarity International (CSI), an NGO which owns properties near Shoolay Circle, then provided a site for Francis to run his bakery.

“They gave my father the khata (property documents) and asked him to pay a nominal ground rent. It was verbally agreed that the land would be transferred to us for a nominal price. From the beginning, the khata has had my father’s name,” David said. In 2016 the ownership was transferred back to CSI, with David remaining in the dark. The CSI has now agreed to part with its property for the Metro station near Johnson Market.

The Metro had planned an entrance near the BWSSB service station on Campbell Road, and another on the vacant land near the government hospital and dispensary. It changed its mind and now plans to acquire properties starting from the petrol pump near Shoolay Circle.

These include Fatima Bakery, Tom’s Hotel, Daniel Auto Garage and a beauty parlour, all of which are perpendicular to Campbell Road.