Govt. pushes relocation of flower business in K.R. Market to GKVK campus; traders raise concern

The State government is building an international flower market on five acres of land in Gandhi Krishi Vignana Kendra (GKVK) in north Bengaluru and is considering shifting the flower traders from K.R. Market here. However, the project has already raised questions from environmentalists as 942 trees will be felled for the project, and flower traders of K.R. Market, who argue relocation from the heart of the city will hit their business.

G.M. Divakar, president, K.R. Market Flowers Merchants’ Association, said they have not been consulted on any relocation plan and said pushing them to G.K.V.K. from the centrally located K.R. Market in the city will hit their business badly. “GKVK is one corner of the city, very near to another flower market coming up in Chickballapur APMC yard, and has no connectivity from all areas. Footfall will drop drastically,” he said. Presently, 136 shops are operating in K.R. Market.

A senior official familiar with the developments confirmed to The Hindu that the primary reason behind considering the relocation was to make business more convenient for farmers and merchants. “Farmers have been struggling to scale up their business due to infrastructure problems, despite cultivating multiple varieties of flowers. The objective of the project is to boost their business,” the officer said, adding that not everyone will be compelled to move.

“At K.R. Market and S.J.P. Road, business starts at 2 a.m. and winds up around 7 a.m. because of frequent traffic congestion. Due to time constraints and the absence of storage facilities, farmers and middlemen are suffering losses,” a stakeholder part of the committee that planned the project said.

The project at GKVK, to be implemented by the Agricultural Produce Marketing Committee (APMC), is expected to house 250–300 shops and will include a digital auction hall, auction platform, cold storage, vehicle parking, incubation centre, dye-making facilities, floral art paper production, concrete extraction, Holi colour preparation, flower-drying technology, and more. It will also provide practical exposure for UHS students, it is argued.

942 trees to be cut

Meanwhile, documents reviewed by The Hindu show that five acres of land being leased for the purpose from the University of Horticultural Sciences (UHS), which is affiliated with Bagalkot UHS, has 942 trees that need to be felled for the market to come up. The trees include five varieties of mango (Mallika, Amrapali, Banganpalli, Kesar, and Badami), totalling 247 trees, 120 silver oak trees, as well as cashew and coconut trees, all between eight and ten years old, fetching an annual revenue of ₹4.85 lakh for the UHS.

“GKVK is one of the good lung spaces in the city, and cutting down 942 trees for building a market on a university campus is not acceptable. The government should do a social and environmental impact assessment of the project and hold public consultation,” said V. Ramprasad, a resident of the area and a lake conservation activist.