Deccan Herald               08.01.2014

KR Market redesign from Jan-end

For years, the city’s historic Krishna Rajendra
Market lay trapped in a chaotic mess of uncleared filth, haphazard
parking, and underused vendor spaces.

Finally, a total
makeover is now on the horizon, with the BBMP all set to start work on a
radical redesign of the Market and its surroundings this month-end. A
refreshing new layout has been proposed for the entire area, maximising
use of space, the roads and injecting an element of pedestrianisation.

Once
the project — which also incorporates a multi-level car-parking setup
for 300 cars — kicks off, the entire exercise is scheduled to be
completed in six months. “We have already appointed Venkatraman
Associates as the consultants. We intend to implement the project after
taking exemption under Section 4(g) of the Karnataka Transparency in
Public Procurements Act 1999,” Mayor B S Satyanarayana told Deccan Herald.

The Market in its current
state posed a mighty challenge for any redesign. Unauthorised parking
entirely blocked access to the basement of the new Market building.

Poor
use of available space meant the first floor was hardly occupied by the
vendors, and the second floor with an area of 90,000 sqft. complete
with high ceilings and multiple vaults, totally vacant for more than a
decade.

Clear priorities

The redesign has
its priorities clear: To improve the accessibility to the Market
building through optimal use of approach roads; streamline parking and
hawker areas; and yes, maximise the use of space on all floors of the
structure. As the project consultant Naresh Narasimhan informed, the top
floor had enough space for production and recording studios and a
gallery area. It could also be transformed as a more organised
supermarket.  

Under the proposed site plan, the road width will
be optimised, pavements clearly demarcated and traffic reorganised
accordingly. The messy hawkers zone will be organised. Besides the
multi-level parking for cars, a separate space will be carved out for
two-wheelers.

As an alternative to the existing cacophony of
loading and unloading, a separate zone will be earmarked for this
critical supply-side activity. Also on the agenda are service lifts to
carry the goods to different floors of the Market building. To make the
basement accessible, erratic parking that blocks its entrance will be
removed. With improved pavements, pedestrians could walk straight to the
second floor through lifts installed on an additional building. They
could also use a staircase. Once this is ready, Market-bound Namma Metro
passengers could alight at the KR Market station and walk directly to
their destination.

Designated waste management and garbage
disposal areas would mean visitors to the Market could finally get
relief from the stink that pervades the entire area. The Market
generates an estimated 30 tonnes of waste daily.