Two years after opening, Vijayanagar’s underground air-conditioned bazaar still awaits vendors

Modelled on Delhi’s Palika Bazaar, the underground market in the city was built at a cost of ₹13 crore and has 79 shops, several of which have air conditioning

Published - August 21, 2026 06:01 am IST - Bengaluru

A view of the Krishna Devaraya Palike Bazaar at Vijayanagar in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN

The Krishna Devaraya Palike Bazaar, the city’s first-of-its-kind underground air-conditioned market in West Bengaluru’s Vijayanagar, appears to have no light at the end of the tunnel, with vendors’ associations divided over occupying the shops, two years after its opening.

Modelled on Delhi’s Palika Bazaar, the underground market in the city was built at a cost of ₹13 crore and has 79 shops, several of which have air conditioning. It was inaugurated in August 2024.

Amid the uncertainty over the opening, the bazaar corridor wears a bleak look, with merely four or five shops operating inside. In several parts, the bazaar suffers from poor maintenance. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN

While the Bengaluru West City Corporation (BWCC) floated tenders twice to conduct auctions for the underground shops, no street vendors expressed interest in participating, citing high rents and fears of a complete fall in business.

K.V. Rajendra, commissioner of BWCC, told The Hindu that he has set a deadline of September 10 for floating tenders and moving the vendors to the underground units.

While the BWCC floated tenders twice to conduct auctions for the underground shops, no street vendors expressed interest in participating, citing high rents and fears of a complete fall in business. | Photo Credit: SUDHAKARA JAIN

However, it won’t be an easy task. Outside the underground facility, along the service stretch of Chord Road, over 120 street vendors have been vending for more than 500 metres. Among them, nearly 70 belong to the Vijayanagara Paadachari Hannu Matthu Tarakari Vyaparigala Kshembhivriddi Sangha, while nearly 30 vendors belong to the Karnataka Pragatipara Beedibadi Vyaparigala Sanghatane (KPBVS). Now, both associations are divided over moving into the underground facility.

Nanjunda B.R., a member of the first association, said many members of their association are ready to move, but unless the other vendors outside the facility are cleared, businesses underground will not pick up. “Customers won’t climb down to buy items when they have shops along the stretch. How can we do business like that and pay rents as well?” he questioned, adding that if the outside vendors are shifted, they are ready to move.

S. Babu, president of KPBVS, told The Hindu that rents are higher for the underground shops and many of them leak during rain, making the move inconvenient. “Street vendors earn very less and have their own commitments. Asking them to pay rents won’t be helpful. If the BWCC is ready to give a lease for 25 years, then we can move inside,” he said.

He also noted that the vendors sitting outside cannot be evicted, as there is a stay order from the court. “The court has allowed us to vend along the stretch while clearly directing us to move the carts to different places after business hours. We have been following it without causing any problem,” he said.

Amid the uncertainty over the opening, the bazaar corridor wears a bleak look, with merely four or five shops operating inside. In several parts, the bazaar suffers from poor maintenance. Rainwater is also stagnant in many parts.

Years before the bazaar was inaugurated, Mr. Babu and several others had submitted applications expressing interest in moving to the underground shops. Mr. Babu said the erstwhile Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike’s legal team had said that the shops could not be allotted without auctioning them, following which the applications were withdrawn.

However, when the facility was inaugurated, several vendors occupied over 50 shops without a proper auction process. Mr. Nanjunda said 95% of them moved out within a month, as there were no customers at all.

Citing the rents, Mr. Babu said their association has been batting for declaring the stretch of road where they vend a natural market. “In 2014 itself, we demanded that it be declared a natural market, and then in 2019 we again requested the BBMP, but nothing happened. In 2022, during a town vending committee meeting, it was discussed again, and we are pushing for the same,” he said.

West Commissioner Rajendra said the corporation itself will prepare a list after filtering the names of vendors, following talks with the local MLA, and the auction process will be completed.