Old markets will soon get new look

Old markets will soon get new look
The Hindu

BMP allocates Rs. 3 crore for the project, hopes to realise higher revenue

# Plans are afoot to provide separate zone for hawkers in K.R. Market
# Johnson Market, Russell Market included in the project

Bangalore: This city has all the upmarket malls it wants and more are coming up. But there are old markets which still remain landmarks and the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has plans to restore them to a semblance of their past glory.

The aim is that landmarks such as Sri Krishnarajendra Market, Russell Market, and Gandhi Bazar should not just fade away.

The K.R. Market was rebuilt at a great cost some years ago and could be a major revenue earner but for the hawkers.

This fiscal the BMP has allocated Rs. 3 crore to give a facelift to the older markets that include Jayanagar Shopping Complex and Johnson Market, off Hosur Road. They still have the potential to serve their neighbourhoods and help those who cannot afford the expensive supermarket chains.

K.R. Market is to be freed of its 500-plus hawkers and a separate hawking zone is planned for them without blocking entrance to the main market.

Clean toilets, drinking water fountains, paved pathways, cleaner walls that can be scrubbed down regularly and better lighting in the corridors are what the BMP plans to provide in the old markets.

To get all this done, the BMP is hoping for a lease or rental and licence revenue from its markets.

Licence revenues last year were less than Rs. 10 crore and officials say there is huge outstanding to be collected from many tenant businesses. Intensifying revenue collection, revising licence fees to more realistic levels and controlling hawkers have now been made priorities.

In the K.R. Market, hawkers have become a problem. Annual licences for authorised hawkers ranged up to Rs 1,800 a year and the BMP can do with that income for garbage removal and traffic control work associated with maintenance of markets. Old markets will soon get new look

Special Correspondent

BMP allocates Rs. 3 crore for the project, hopes to realise higher revenue

# Plans are afoot to provide separate zone for hawkers in K.R. Market
# Johnson Market, Russell Market included in the project

Bangalore: This city has all the upmarket malls it wants and more are coming up. But there are old markets which still remain landmarks and the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike has plans to restore them to a semblance of their past glory.

The aim is that landmarks such as Sri Krishnarajendra Market, Russell Market, and Gandhi Bazar should not just fade away.

The K.R. Market was rebuilt at a great cost some years ago and could be a major revenue earner but for the hawkers.

This fiscal the BMP has allocated Rs. 3 crore to give a facelift to the older markets that include Jayanagar Shopping Complex and Johnson Market, off Hosur Road. They still have the potential to serve their neighbourhoods and help those who cannot afford the expensive supermarket chains.

K.R. Market is to be freed of its 500-plus hawkers and a separate hawking zone is planned for them without blocking entrance to the main market.

Clean toilets, drinking water fountains, paved pathways, cleaner walls that can be scrubbed down regularly and better lighting in the corridors are what the BMP plans to provide in the old markets.

To get all this done, the BMP is hoping for a lease or rental and licence revenue from its markets.

Licence revenues last year were less than Rs. 10 crore and officials say there is huge outstanding to be collected from many tenant businesses. Intensifying revenue collection, revising licence fees to more realistic levels and controlling hawkers have now been made priorities.

In the K.R. Market, hawkers have become a problem. Annual licences for authorised hawkers ranged up to Rs 1,800 a year and the BMP can do with that income for garbage removal and traffic control work associated with maintenance of markets.