When it rains, it really pours

BANGALORE: Madivala Market is one of the familiar markets of Bangalore. This market has been active for around 40 years. There are more than 1,500 stalls here, and almost everything is available under one roof — grocery items, vegetables, flowers and fruits. But come rain, the vendors open their hearts and share worries about the monsoon. All the vendors use tarpaulin as roofs which is unreliable in case of rain. The rainwater is a source of worry for most of the vendors. The water gets stagnant in small pits all over the area. The waste and leftovers by the vendors heaped in front of the shops get soggy in the rain, and thus become difficult to clear. The rotting vegetables create an unpleasant odour and also calls on flies and insects. The rainwater also washes away the soil and the surface as a result the entire area becomes slippery. Malarkodi (name changed), runs a coconut shop in Madivala Market. She says that the rain brings with it, many stories of untold suffering. “We find it very difficult to run the shop when it rains. We bundle all the vegetables and fruits together and cover it with tarpaulin. The entire sale gets affected on a rainy day,” she says. She agonises that all the vendors have made numerous complaints and have petitioned to the authorities to build them a market with proper roof. “But there is no response from the corporation’s end,” she says. Says Narayanaswamy, a flower vendor in the market, “The concerned authorities, over the years have made fake promises to build us a market with roof. But our misery and sufferings still continue.” All the vendors of the Madivala market are expecting a solution in the near future. In response to the claims of the vendors, corporator B N Manjunath Reddy said that the petition for renovating the market has been forwarded to the BBMP three months ago. The petition is yet to be sanctioned.