The Hindu 17.04.2013
Bescom switches off power supply to Russell Market over unpaid bill
More than 480 traders and vendors of Russell Market in
the city, who had to make do without power supply for almost a year
after the iconic market was ravaged by fire, suffered a scare on Tuesday
when Bescom officials cut their electricity connection, plunging the
market into darkness again.
Power supply to the
entire market, which was disconnected in the morning, was restored by
evening after the shopkeepers hurriedly cleared 10 months’ minimum
charge they had agreed to pay.
Apparently, the Bescom
restored power connection last month after receiving an undertaking
from the shopkeepers that they would pay the arrears, which works out to
Rs. 836 for each shop. Though a majority of the shopkeepers had paid
up, a few hadn’t, said Mohammed Idrees Choudhury, general secretary,
Russell Market Fruit Merchants’ Association. “We cleared the arrears
today after power was disconnected. Electricity was restored in the
evening,” he said.
The traders had a hard time after fire ripped through the 85-year-old market in February 2012, consuming 174 shops.
In
the war of attrition that followed between the traders and the Bruhat
Bangalore Mahanagara Palike, which wanted to demolish the landmark
structure, the traders conducted their business for almost a year with
lamps and diesel generators, till the power supply was restored last
month.
