Vijayanagar’s ₹13-crore underground bazaar has only a handful of shops open after two years

Four or five shops are operating inside Vijayanagar’s Krishna Devaraya Palike Bazaar, two years after the ₹13-crore underground market opened with 79 units.

The facility, beneath the Chord Road service stretch, was modelled on Delhi’s Palika Bazaar and includes air-conditioned shops. But its corridor has suffered from poor maintenance and stagnant rainwater in places, while two earlier auction attempts drew no interest from street vendors.

More than 120 vendors work along over 500 metres of the service road outside. Nanjunda B.R. of the Vijayanagara Paadachari Hannu Matthu Tarakari Vyaparigala Kshembhivriddi Sangha said some members would move underground only if vendors outside are also shifted. “Customers won’t climb down to buy items when they have shops along the stretch,” he said.

S. Babu, president of the Karnataka Pragatipara Beedibadi Vyaparigala Sanghatane, cited higher rents, rainwater leakage and a demand for a 25-year lease. He said vendors along the stretch have a court stay allowing them to continue vending there.

Bengaluru West City Corporation Commissioner K.V. Rajendra has set September 10 as the deadline to float tenders and begin shifting vendors. The bazaar has room for 79 vendors, fewer than those currently selling outside.