Church Street renovation sparks retail frustration and public debate

Another redevelopment on Church Street in Bengaluru has left traders and the public disappointed. The street has been closed to traffic since Monday and is likely to remain so until the end of this week. But repair work on the road has been ongoing for about a month, which has slowed down the flow of customers to vendors on the street.

TNM spoke to several suppliers who expressed dismay over the prolonged renovation work that has brought their business to a standstill. Many said that there was no need for repairs, since the road did not have serious damage, and this section had already been reconstructed several times.

“We don’t know why this work continues. They removed the stones from the sidewalk and installed the same stones again. The main road is closed and no one comes to our store these days. It has become difficult for us to even pay the rent of the building,” said Chandru, who owns a bookshop on the street.

Ravi, the restaurant manager, said they were not notified in advance about the repair work or road closure. “We don’t know how long this will last. This has become a headache for us, especially for the parcel services. We are taking orders to Brigade Road and handing them over to delivery partners as the road is closed,” he said.

Lack of transparency

The renovation project was undertaken by non-profit organization UnboxingBLR Foundation after receiving permission from the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). The organization is founded by Malini Goyal, a former business journalist, and Prashant Prakash, who is also the founding partner of global venture capital firm Accel Partners in India.

A private enterprise has signed a two-year contract for the maintenance and reconstruction of roads. “If the project is successfully completed, the organization will be given an extension for another two years,” BBMP executive engineer Kalleshappa told TNM.

However, there is growing criticism among the public that road maintenance is being outsourced to a private entity.

“The BBMP’s transfer of a public road to a private enterprise is a matter of concern. In the past, we have seen how parks were handed over to private agencies and how they controlled public access,” said Vinay Srinivasa, a lawyer. He also noted the lack of transparency as the civic body had not made the MoU public or held any discussions in this regard. “There is no clarity on the terms; this entity can now control street vendors or pedestrians; we are not sure about this,” he added.

A couple of months ago, the BBMP evicted the sidewalk vendors on Church Street as it was not part of the drive to remove encroachments. “The eviction itself was illegal because there was no prior notice. All this is happening at a time when there is not even an elected BBMP council,” Vinay said.

This is not the first time that Church Street in Bengaluru has undergone a makeover. In 2020, the 750-metre stretch received support for LED street lights and further landscaping, while the cobblestones were renovated in 2018 at a cost of Rs 9 crore.

Frequent repair work on Church Street has also sparked an online debate, with many X users wondering why one particular road is being repaired repeatedly while many other roads in Bengaluru are being ignored.