Market Tales: Abandoned midway, redevelopment of Jayanagar market hangs in a balance
Bangalore Development Authority, which was tasked with the job, developed one of the proposed four towers, stalled the project midway and returned it to the newly formed Bengaluru South City Corporation
The redevelopment of the Jayanagar market, initiated following a fire in 2009, has been halted halfway for years now, due to vendors refusing to vacate their shops in the old building. The Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), responsible for the project, built one of the proposed four towers, then halted the project and returned it to the newly formed Bengaluru South City Corporation (BSCC).
When questioned about the project's future in the Karnataka Legislature Session, Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar mentioned that the BDA and BSCC must jointly decide on the project's fate. He ruled out imposing penalties on the contractor for unfinished work, as the shops were not handed over to the firm.
Jayanagar Traders' Association member Jayaram B.K. expressed concern about the new shop allotted to him, stating that its size (60 sq. ft) is inadequate for his business, which has drastically decreased since the fire. The upper floors of the tower remain vacant, with no shops on floors three to six.
BSCC Commissioner K.N. Ramesh said the corporation is now issuing shop and space allocations on the third to sixth floors of tower one for private firms. Both parties are in talks about the arbitration with the previous contractor. The BSCC plans to either finish the remaining towers or use the land for a new office, as the Revenue Department had previously allocated this land to another department but it remains undeveloped. If this doesn't work out, the remaining Jayanagar market land may be used to build the new office.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
