Local Business

Ever since the app-based cab aggregators - Ola, Uber, TaxiForSure entered the Indian market, a lot of stories have been told over the lucrative offers they give to the cab drivers and how the lives of cab drivers have changed. We have even come across the cases of highly educated and handsomely paid executives quitting their jobs in Bengaluru, to take up driving as a profession. The profession of cab drivers affiliated to app-based aggregators has been seen as a road to prosperity. There have been accounts of drivers earning even upto Rs 80,000 a month, which is equal to…

Bengaluru's street vendors, under the banner of the Bruhat Bengaluru Beedhi Vyaapaari Sanghatanegala Okkuta (Federation of Street Vendor Unions of Bangalore), had organised a protest on March 10th 2016 at the BBMP Head Office. Street vendors protest at the BBMP premises. Pic: Beedi Vyaapari Okkuta Soon after, the protest began, the BBMP Mayor, Manjunath Reddy, promised to meet with members of the Federation after the Council Sessions were done.  Demands of the protesters 1) A joint meeting should be convened with the Mayor, Commissioner and respective coporators, comprising Kaverinagar, Koramangala, Shivajinagar and Jayanagar 9th Block street vendors. 2) 1% funds…

Plastic waste from across the city is collected at Jolly Mohalla, before it undergoes recycling process. Pic: Akshatha M Abdul Khader, a middle-aged man, owns a modest plastic waste collection centre in the narrow lanes of Jolly Mohalla. Amidst the bunch of scrap dealers spread across this famous location close to K R Market in Bengaluru, Khader established his shop 25 years ago. For him and his three employees, the day starts at 4 am. Kabadiwalas and ragpickers throng his shop early in the morning carrying plastic waste from across the city. “I buy these plastic cups and plates for…

The Bruhat Bangalore Beedhi Vyaapaari Sanghatanegala Okkoota is (Federation of Street Vendor Unions of Bangalore) is calling for a protest rally and a bundh on street vending on Monday, June 15th. The protest march is scheduled for 10 am from City railway station to Freedom Park. Thousands of vendors are expected to participate from all eight zones of BBMP. This come in the light of the spate of evictions of street vendors by Bangalore’s police (Law and Order and Traffic) and BBMP officials. While the UPA-2  has brought in the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihoods and Regulation of Street Vending)…

A butcher at the Murphy Town market showing off his skill with a cleaver. Pic: Pavan Kulkarni Murphy Town market, along with Johnson market and Russell market, may be officially declared as heritage structures in the near future. Professor Gitanjali Rao, the director of Art, Architecture, Design Environment Consultants (AEDI), a Hubli-based organisation designated by the Archaeology Department with the task of preparing a list of heritage structures in Bengaluru, has confirmed to Citizen Matters that Murphy town market is one of the 800+ entries in their initial inventory of heritage structures in Bengaluru. However, operating under tight time constraints,…

3.30 am, KR Market complex. Seethamma, in her sixties, is busy dealing with her customers, with a huge pile of jasmine and marigold in front of her. She has been selling flowers for the past 40 years, commuting all the way from Doddaballapur every day. Her customers are street-side vendors who sell stringed flowers by the mola or make garlands out of it. Even as dawn is hours away, Krishna Rajendra Market (KR Market), also known as City Market, is already bustling with activity. Flower and vegetable vendors visit the market in the wee hours of the morning, to offload…

Clad in yellow-and-red, a vegetable seller sits nonchalantly on a chair in the middle of the road. Pic: Deepa Mohan Valli is a 45-year-old woman who sells vegetables on her cart in Ulsoor. Two to three times a week, she takes a bus from Cox Town where she lives, and makes her way to City Market at about 1.30 pm. With a budget of Rs 4,000 on each visit, she buys vegetables based on the prices. If the prices are up, she buys about two kilos each of assorted vegetables; if they are down, she picks up about five kilos…

The Bruhat Bengaluru Beedhi Vyaapaari Sanghatanegala Okkoota (Federation of Street Vendor Unions of Bangalore) is a federation of Street Vendor unions in several areas of Bangalore. Our member organisations have organised unions in Vijayanagar, Gandhinagar, Shivajinagar, K.R.Market, Kamakshipalya, Aerohalli Ward No.72, Yegganahalli, Rajajinagar, Dodda Gollarahatti, 1st & 2nd Block, Nandini Layout, Nandini Layout,Ramkrishnanagar, Cholurpalya, Goragunte playa, Kamalanagar and several other areas of Bangalore. One of our member organisations, the Vijayanagar Beedhi Vyaaparigala Sanghatane is in fact the first registered Street Vendors Union in Karnataka. We have been working with vendors in different areas, making them aware of the New Street…

A clean up drive turned out to be a wake up drive, for shop keepers as well as BBMP, on Saturday, November 23, 2013 . As many as 26 shops at Johnson's market received notices for not having trade licenses  or for not displaying it. Health inspector Amarappa, Medical Officer of Health Sanghamitra and Additional Commissioner Yatish Kumar responsible for Solid Waste Management and Health carried out the inspection of trade licenses and waste disposal at Johnson's market on Hosur Road. There are many vendors in Johnson's Market who violate the rules. Pic: Nikita Malusare As you enter Johnson market…

A young seller arranging the vegetables at a weekly Santhe near Bannerghatta Biological Park. Pic: Bosky Khanna Food inflation is at 7-month high. Wouldn’t it be nice to know areas where you could get fresh vegetables in Bengaluru for throw away price? There are some places hidden on the outskirts of the city where you can buy fresh locally grown vegetables directly from farmers. Also known as Santhes, local small vegetable markets are organised once a week, in various places on the city outskirts. Homemakers, suppliers to hotels and restaurants, street sellers, shop owners and even direct hotel and restaurant…