Tue Mar 04 04:05:53 UTC 2025: **Bengaluru’s New Palike Bazar Overrun by Unauthorized Vendors Six Months After Opening**
**Bengaluru, March 4, 2025** – Just six months after its inauguration, Bengaluru’s new ₹13 crore Palike Bazar, a state-of-the-art air-conditioned underground market, is facing a significant problem: it’s been occupied by at least 25 unauthorized vendors.
The market, modeled after Delhi’s Palika Bazar and designed to house 79 stalls, opened in August 2024 after six years of development. However, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has yet to auction off the stalls, leading to the current situation. Vendors currently operating within the market claim to have received permission from local BBMP officials, although they refuse to disclose who they are paying rent to.
Street vendors who had been operating along the Vijayanagar Service Road for decades, and who were surveyed by the BBMP in 2021, allege they were overlooked in the allocation process. They claim that the current occupants are not from the area and had no prior presence on the service road.
Documents reveal that the Zonal Commissioner (South) directed the Executive Engineer to initiate a tender process for the auctioning of spaces in January 2025. However, this process has yet to commence.
The Bengaluru Urban District Street Vendors’ Association is urging the BBMP to evict the unauthorized vendors and conduct the tender process fairly to ensure legitimate vendors can secure stalls. A senior BBMP official acknowledged the issue and stated that the zonal office has been instructed to begin the tender process, after which action will be taken against illegal occupants. The situation highlights a failure in the implementation and management of a significant public infrastructure project.
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