Though the market looks and smells better now, the condition of the shopkeepers has worsened
A row of vegetable shops at Madiwala market in Bengaluru (Photo: DC)
Bengaluru: “Our business has never been so badly hit. Most of the customers stay away because our stocks are often dusty and don’t look fresh. On rainy days, thanks to BMTC buses, our vegetables and fruits get washed by dirty rain water. On such days, most of our stocks go waste,” rues 28-year-old Selvan, a vegetable vendor at Madiwala market.
The Madiwala Market Road has seen many progressive changes over the years with the BBMP setting up bio-methanisation plant to treat wet waste and even planning to make the busy road fully concreted.
Though the market looks and smells better now, the condition of the shopkeepers has worsened. The major blow was the traffic police’s decision to divert traffic from Hosur Road to Electronics City through the Market Road. Though the road has seen exponential increase in traffic on this road after the police’s decision, the stretch has not seen any repairs in a long time. This has caused a serious damage to vegetable vendors, the shopkeepers complain.
“Profits have gone down by half in the last one year. For a few months, supermarkets drove away customers, now the bad condition of the road and heaps of garbage in front of shops are keeping them at bay. How do we survive,” asks Selvan.
For Jayalakshmi, a homemaker in Maruthi Nagar, going to the nearby Madiwala Market on mornings to buy fresh veggies was a cherishing experience. She no longer visits the market as heavy traffic has made the road dangerous for pedestrians.
“There are no walkable footpaths or even a pedestrian signal. I often hear that bikers meeting with accidents on that road. How can we be sure that pedestrians won’t be injured? Even if I have to pay a little extra in supermarkets, I prefer buying vegetables there, rather than the market,” she says.
The BBMP should be held responsible for the pathetic condition of the road, says R.Vasu, Madiwala Traffic Police Inspector. “The road has been completely dug up to concretise it. Garbage trucks make a queue in the mornings hampering traffic movement,’ he says.
“The road gets clogged during peak hours and when BBMP trucks collect garbage from the market. Otherwise, the traffic movement is smooth. We often witness minor accidents because of numerous potholes on the road,” he says. Local residents rue that many complaints to the BBMP have fallen on deaf ears.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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