Traders want Jayanagar complex plan scrapped

BENGALURU: As the project to reconstruct three blocks of the popular BDA Commercial Complex in Jayanagar 4th Block nears it’s deadline, upset traders want the plan scrapped, as work has not even started. The 168 traders who had to relocate temporarily to another completed block, are desperate to return to their stalls. 

The Rs 252-crore project, built after demolishing the historic Puttana Kanagal theatre, was to have two theatres, among other fancy proposals. Those ideas were shelved and the first block was completed at a cost of Rs 56 crore in August 2016. While vendors were shifted temporarily to this block from the second, third and fourth blocks, construction work has not even begun, though the places remain barricaded.

Based on representations by the vendors, Jayanagar MLA Soumya Reddy has asked BDA to consider minor renovations to the existing buildings, and help the vendors move back. “The issue has been discussed and BDA is likely to give its consent,” said a top official. 

Explaining reasons for the delay, Jayanagar Shopping Complex Merchants’ Association secretary Jagadish said BDA had not paid the contractor, NCC, and has taken it to an arbitration court. “NCC has demanded that BDA pay Rs 117 crore as compensation for the delay, with interest. Renovation could be done for Rs 5 to 6 crore, and we could move in. Business has slumped,” Jagadish said.  

Reddy said the reasons are many. “The lack of government funds and political will, and misgovernance are responsible,” she charged. The ego battle between bureaucrats too ensured it remained a non-starter. “We staged protests and I raised the issue with the CM and others. There is a lack of interest in completing it,” she alleged. 

A top BDA official said the Authority was responsible for construction and handover to the BBMP. “BDA will take 100% rent for the first 15 years to recoup its costs, and after that, 75% of rent would go to BBMP and the rest to BDA,” he said.