Vendors to say it with no flowers

The flower vendors at the Sri Krishnarajendra Market here will not be open for business for a few hours on Monday in protest against the illegal shops that have come up in the market.

Illegal shops

Alleging that 10 shops have come up in the upper basement of the market, B.M.S. Raghu Kumar, president of the Bangalore Flower Association, told presspersons here on Saturday that they had come up in violation of the High Court directive that had ordered for

status quo . “These shops have come up illegally on the passage and also in the area earmarked for escalator.”

He said on any given day the market records around one lakh footfalls, and it normally doubles during the festival season. Construction of these shops in the passage and emergency exits could affect people in case of emergency, he added.

According to Mr. Kumar, several complaints to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike higher officials have had no impact so far. The flower market has about 120 wholesale vendors and more than 800 retail vendors. “We don't want to harm farmers as flowers are highly perishable. The market will be closed for about 4 hours after 11 a.m. on April 16,” he said.