Bengaluru: Traders excited about Commercial Street’s new look

BENGALURU: Having lost several peak business seasons, traders on Commercial Street now see a ray of hope. Reason: The road redevelopment work undertaken by Bengaluru Smart City Limited (BenSCL) is almost over after nearly two years.
With the road all set to formally be thrown open in the coming week, business establishments are optimistic of seeing shopper numbers increase in the coming months.“Despite the Smart City project being one of the pet projects of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, civic authorities took a long time to complete the 550metre stretch, work on which commenced in May 2020 and was supposed to be over within 90 days. But it’s good that it is finally over now,” an apparel store owner on the street told STOI.
Mayank R, secretary of Bangalore Commercial Association, said, “We have been struggling for nearly two years, not just with civil work but also the pandemic. Businesses on Commercial Street were affected by a huge margin. We traders are now leaving all that behind us as are hopeful that business will pick up after how the street has turned out. We hope to see the old charm of the street.”
‘Work to be over by tomorrow’
On Saturday, Rakesh Singh, additional chief secretary, urban development department, and BenSCL MD Rajendra Cholan visited the street to inspect the work. Work like placement of dustbins and sewage connections to the buildings will be completed by Monday, said Cholan. “The weekend curfew will allow us time to clean up the street a little before our shoppers see its revamped version for the first time,” Mayank added.
The traders pointed out that they understand the ground-level challenges BenSCL faced during the entire length of this project as the street has always been busy. “Initially, we were told that they will finish the work in 90 days, but only when they dug it up did they understood the issues pertaining to the soil or utilities. So the delay was mostly due to operational or technical challenges; it was never a matter of willingly delaying the project,” said Sanjay Motwani, president, Bangalore Commercial Association.
Traders say they can’t wait for citizens to walk into Commercial Street and see how beautiful it looks after the redevelopment. “For a very long time, shoppers have found it difficult to walk on Commercial Street. While the pavement work was being carried out, they had to enters shops through plywood planks. The work completion has not only brought a great sense of relief to traders but also frequent visitors,” said Anand Dadu, a member of Bangalore Commercial Association.
BenSCL said it has addressed the issue of stormwater drain, which led to waterlogging in July.
Sanjay further said, “Despite the several hurdles the traders and the project have faced, we are delighted with how the street looks. We have LED streetlights on both the sides of the road and broad and even pavements for shoppers. This revamp was something that Commercial Street needed as no civil work has been done here in 75 years or more.”
Cholan said, “The contractor will be in-charge of maintenance of the street for the next five years, after which it will be handed over to BBMP for upkeep.”
On the delay in completing the project, he said, “There was a delay from the BenSCL end due to several challenges at the ground level. There are close to 750 properties and we had to understand the connection to each. For instance, sewage connections in some places were absent and in some places were behind the building.”
BenSCL is also working on a parking facility behind the Commercial Street police station, which may be able to accommodate 50 to 100 cars. Traffic will be allowed on the street from Monday.