Tenders to be called for Russell Market

BANGALORE: While traders of the Russel Market are planning a grand opening of the renovated Russel Market on Monday, the Bruhat    Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has other plans. The BBMP is planning to call for tender through e-procurement for the construction of the same building which was renovated by traders themselves.BBMP Commissioner M K Shankaralinge Gowda told Express that no BBMP official will be participating in the inauguration and reiterated that the structure is unsafe for doing business. He said, “The building has been badly damaged in last month’s fire. So, the Palike will call for tenders through e-procurement. The building plan and design will be ready in next 3 to 4 months. Till then the traders can carry on business.”Speaking about the safety issues of the renovated portion, the commissioner  said, “Let them give it in writing that they will be responsible for any untoward incident. Already our officers have certified that the building  is unsafe for occupation. The BBMP had sent noticesrepeatedly to traders but none of them has responded.”However, traders did not give much importance to Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike’s repeated notices to vacate the premises and claimed that the notices reached them late. Besides, the association had already invested around a `1 crore on renovation.Now the members say that they cannot alter their plan and will save the market complex at any cost and  will go to any extent to convince the BBMP in this regard. “We have sentiments attached to the market and the BBMP is planning to call for fresh tenders for the same building. We have renovated this building and our engineer had termed it strong enough for business. We will give documents to the BBMP and ask them not to demolish the renovated structure. To showcase our strength we have planned a grand opening on Monday and have invited prominent leaders,” said, Mohammed Idrees Choudry, general secretary, Russel Market Traders Association.