Bengaluru: Kempegowda Road which connects the Corporation circle with Majestic bus terminus is popularly known as KG Road. This road was famous for road side book stalls. Till recently, it was the hub for second hand books, pirated books and books related to competitive examinations.
But the ongoing road widening work displaced all the sellers giving the road a deserted look. As part of the ongoing road upgradation work under the Tender SURE project, BBMP has taken up repair work of KG road which houses several important government offices including, KPTCL, Kandaya Bhavana (Revenue House), NABARD etc. As part of the road development works, now the contractor has dug the foot path resulting in the displacement of road side vendors especially book sellers.
The book sellers were known for selling second hand books at affordable cost and pirated books of award winning writers. “As it was very close to the court and central college campus etc, people used to come seeking books of their choice. They used to have all kinds of books especially second hand books,” said a traffic police constable.
According to the book lovers, till the start of the road widening works, the foot path in front of the DDPI offices was always filled with tens of book sellers. “They were selling all types of titles right from novels to books related to astrology and legal books. They used to get the pirated books before other sellers. With Balepet which is known for printing presses very close to the KG road, road side book vendors always used to get new books first,” said Mr. Bhagya Prakash, a resident of Nagartha pet and a daily visitor to the road.
"Since last one month many book sellers have been displaced. Many of them had encroached the foot path next to SBM head quarters. But this road has lost its old glory," he said. Few book sellers who were displaced from the area have now moved to parallel road and adjacent areas. "Many were moved out of the whole area. With street vendors banned on Tender SURE roads, all the street side book sellers will be forced to move out of the whole area," said Mr. Rangappa Patil, a book seller.
