Bhuvaneswari Raman
The State led transformation of urban territories in India as elsewhere is driven by a singular logic of elevating their status in the global hierarchy. This project entailed (re)claiming land for specific type of high end real estate development and mega infrastructure projects threatening to destabilize the territorial claims of various social and economic groups.
Urban markets are one such territory that has been targeted under urban renewal or mega infrastructure projects. In parallel, the nature of trade as well as its scale has expanded with city’s growth. This essay traces the story of a specific type of urban markets locally known as ‘Santhes’ in the eastern periphery of the South Indian metropolis of Bangalore. 'Santhes', as they are locally known, evolved as weekly markets for a group of villages but over time was appropriated by urban traders with varying scales of trade. The organisation of trade in time and space is flexible allowing for large congregation. Santhe territories in Bangalore often sprawl over a vast expanse of land and are sited along strategic corridors connecting the city with surrounding villages or in neighbourhoods with a very high real estate price. There are twelve ‘Santhes’ in the city, particularly in the Southern and Eastern Periphery (Raman 2010), one of which namely, the KR Puram Santhe is traced in this essay.
Urban markets are one such territory that has been targeted under urban renewal or mega infrastructure projects. In parallel, the nature of trade as well as its scale has expanded with city’s growth. This essay traces the story of a specific type of urban markets locally known as ‘Santhes’ in the eastern periphery of the South Indian metropolis of Bangalore. 'Santhes', as they are locally known, evolved as weekly markets for a group of villages but over time was appropriated by urban traders with varying scales of trade. The organisation of trade in time and space is flexible allowing for large congregation. Santhe territories in Bangalore often sprawl over a vast expanse of land and are sited along strategic corridors connecting the city with surrounding villages or in neighbourhoods with a very high real estate price. There are twelve ‘Santhes’ in the city, particularly in the Southern and Eastern Periphery (Raman 2010), one of which namely, the KR Puram Santhe is traced in this essay.
The KrishnaRajapuram Santhe or the KR Puram Santhe is situated in the eastern periphery of the city. There is little documentation about the Santhes of Bangalore, though the history of such territories is traced to the legacy of Muslim king Tipu Sultan who ruled in the 19th century. In general, the transformation story of Bangalore in urban studies tends to be dominated by the rise of its globally connected Information Technology (IT) and Information Technology Enabled Services (ITES). However, like many other Indian cities, it is constituted of heterogeneous economic activities, of which trade is one. In fact, the city’s origin is traced to Bengaluru, which was an inland trading post in the 15th century (Srinivasan 2001; Nair 2005). The present city of Bangalore developed around two nodes namely, Bengaluru or the Central City ward of KR Market and the Cantonment established during the British rule. While KR Market serves as the main market for several perishable and non-perishable goods, KR Puram is the regional market for perishable goods for several localities within the municipal boundary as well as the villages around it.This essay through a focus on the history of Santhes seeks to illustrate the fluid politics to claim Santhe territories.
The KR Puram Santhe: Location and Congregation
The KR Puram Santhe is located on the north-western periphery of Bangalore (Zone C, fig. 1). It is situated on land along a main thoroughfare (Fig.1; Image 1), which connects the IT corridor in the southern and the eastern wards of the city. It is situated at a distance of approximately 2 km from a residential colony of a public sector company, the Indian Telephone Industries (ITI). The ITI is one of the three large public sector companies in the city. Besides, there are several other private residential colonies in the ward, closer to the Santhe location. Many of these colonies sprang up post-2000, when Bangalore’s real estate was at its peak. Residents from these colonies frequented the santhe for the supply of perishable goods. Besides, KR puram santhe served as a distribution node to retail traders of several wards in the Western and North Western part of the city.
Image1: Map of Bangalore and Location of KR Puram
Fig.1: Location of KR Puram Agglomeration
Behind the santhe space are the offices of the District Land Registration and the District Courts (Image 2) and sited on the adjoining plots, are the Police Station and the office of City Municipal Corporation (Map 1).
Image 2: District Court
Thus, the santhe is sited at a location where there is dense congregation of floating population, traders, retail customers, street level bureaucrats and politicians frequenting the various government offices.
The Heterogenity of Santhe Trade and its Overlapping Boundaries:
The KR puram Santhe trade is characterized by heterogeneity of actors in terms of their language and migratory status and their everyday scale of trade. Traders are predominantly from two linguistic backgrounds viz., Telugu and Kannada and from a variety of castes including Kumbhars, Banijigas, Shettys, Thigalas, Kurubas (a scheduled tribe), and Dalits. Tamil speaking migrants, though few, were recent entrants to trade at KR Puram Santhe.
Traders differentiated the following groups among them. The first consists of households that have traded inter-generationally in santhes, who trade one day in each santhe and from three or four santhes in a week, referred henceforth as Weekly Traders. Trading in perishable goods at such locations was once dominated by farmers, and non-perishables by weekly traders. At present, however, many weekly traders have shifted to perishable items. Weekly traders predominantly belong to the following castes Kumbhars, Banijigas and Shettys.
The second are the Kannada and Telugu speaking traders who settled in the eastern periphery of the city for several generations. They identify themselves as Natives of KR Puram and were previously in farm employment, unskilled market labour and street trade in other wards of the city.With the sale/conversion of agricultural land in the city’s periphery and surrounding villages for plotted development since 2000, many households traditionally in farm employment shifted to small trade.
The third groups of traders are the children from weekly traders’ households. Though they had college educations but they found it difficult to find suitable employment in the new economies and instead entered santhe trade; opportunities in IT or its associated service industries were often beyond their reach. Further, while youths from poor and lower middle income households found it difficult to compete in the new high-skilled jobs that were emerging, the numerous small-scale industries which once provided employment to unskilled and semi-skilled labourers, are also facing closure, with their land converted into IT parks or high income residential enclaves. Some among the second and the third group trade on all days of a week in a santhe, referred henceforth as Daily Traders.
Traders differentiated the following groups among them. The first consists of households that have traded inter-generationally in santhes, who trade one day in each santhe and from three or four santhes in a week, referred henceforth as Weekly Traders. Trading in perishable goods at such locations was once dominated by farmers, and non-perishables by weekly traders. At present, however, many weekly traders have shifted to perishable items. Weekly traders predominantly belong to the following castes Kumbhars, Banijigas and Shettys.
The second are the Kannada and Telugu speaking traders who settled in the eastern periphery of the city for several generations. They identify themselves as Natives of KR Puram and were previously in farm employment, unskilled market labour and street trade in other wards of the city.With the sale/conversion of agricultural land in the city’s periphery and surrounding villages for plotted development since 2000, many households traditionally in farm employment shifted to small trade.
The third groups of traders are the children from weekly traders’ households. Though they had college educations but they found it difficult to find suitable employment in the new economies and instead entered santhe trade; opportunities in IT or its associated service industries were often beyond their reach. Further, while youths from poor and lower middle income households found it difficult to compete in the new high-skilled jobs that were emerging, the numerous small-scale industries which once provided employment to unskilled and semi-skilled labourers, are also facing closure, with their land converted into IT parks or high income residential enclaves. Some among the second and the third group trade on all days of a week in a santhe, referred henceforth as Daily Traders.
Santhes and its actors occupy an ambiguous space in relation to law. As mentioned earlier, there was a historical tradition of allocating land for santhes. However, such land was categorized as “Gomala” or “Common Land” controlled by the Revenue Administration and managed by the respective local governments. Until 2009, santhe administration fell under different types of local governments including Bangalore Municipal Corporation, the City Municipal Corporation (CMC) and Urban Panchayats.
KR Puram santhe was then under the control of CMC. KR Puram was notified as an urban area and a city municipal corporation was established in the mid seventies. The santhe land was marked on CMC’s area plan. By contrast, santhes that fall under the BMC are not shown in the plan. By default, santhe traders within BMC limits were described as “illegal” encroachers and street traders. Interviews with senior bureaucrats and elected representatives at KR Puram suggest that while the use of land for trade is not in violation of planning laws, a majority of the weekly or daily traders are not considered as santhe traders. Although this does not affect their everyday trade, it has an impact on their negotiations with local governments for subverting development threat.
KR Puram santhe was then under the control of CMC. KR Puram was notified as an urban area and a city municipal corporation was established in the mid seventies. The santhe land was marked on CMC’s area plan. By contrast, santhes that fall under the BMC are not shown in the plan. By default, santhe traders within BMC limits were described as “illegal” encroachers and street traders. Interviews with senior bureaucrats and elected representatives at KR Puram suggest that while the use of land for trade is not in violation of planning laws, a majority of the weekly or daily traders are not considered as santhe traders. Although this does not affect their everyday trade, it has an impact on their negotiations with local governments for subverting development threat.
Their scale of trade varies, which can be grouped into three broad categories:
Their average daily profits are respectively Rs.50, Rs.150 and Rs. 300. These profits are highly fluctuating and for traders relying on credit for investment, a loss due to bad business, successive raids by the local government can result in aggravating their debt burden.
- Small traders who sell in small measures and invest between Rs. 50 to less than Rs. 500.
- Mid-Level Retailers with an investment ranging from Rs. 500 – 3000 depending on the type of produce and predominantly trade between Rs.1500-3000 per day.
- Bulk Traders; with an investment ranging from Rs. 3000-5000 in a day.
Their average daily profits are respectively Rs.50, Rs.150 and Rs. 300. These profits are highly fluctuating and for traders relying on credit for investment, a loss due to bad business, successive raids by the local government can result in aggravating their debt burden.
History of KR Puram Santhe : Time Line
There is long history of trading at the two Santhes. The figure below traces the development of santhe trade between 1970 and 2004 in KR Puram.
Fig 2: Time line of development of trade in KR Puram Santhe.
Source: Raman (2010), Street traders, Place and Politics in Bangalore: A Doctoral Dissertation, London School of Economics, UK.
The chronology of events influencing the growth of daily cycles of street trade during the years 1971 – 85 is described in Column A. Until the mid-eighties, trade was held once a week on the santhe land and everyday in the morning for a limited time, between 5- 9 a.m. Earlier, both group of traders used to move to a neighbouring ward to sell their remains. What started as a small scale of trade by market labourers of early morning cycle traders, developed into a daily market with different scales and time cycles of trade, by the mid eighties.
Today, KR puram hosts three cycles of trade. The first cycle starts from 5 a.m. and finishes at 9 a.m. The second daily cycle traders occupy the place from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m., although the peak trading time is from 5 p.m. – 9 p.m. in the evening. Besides, there is one day in the week, when historically santhe trade is conducted from 9 a.m. till 9 p.m. The groups occupying the santhe site differ during the above mentioned cycles.
Image 3: First daily time cycle of trading at KR Puram Santhe
The volume of trade is high on all days of the week during the first time cycle of trade; both traders and farmers predominantly from the north eastern wards in the outer periphery dominate during this time (Images 3 and 4). Many itinerant traders in the east and in the north eastern wards of the city travel to KR Puram to source their produce.
The scale of trade varies across the three cycles. Different groups of traders occupied the land during the early morning cycle (5 – 9 am) and after 9 am. The first cycle traders are predominantly: farmers from surrounding village, weekly santhe traders and their children, residents of surrounding villages who are new to trade, and migrants traders from various parts of Bangalore city. The main part of the market is occupied by the inter-generational traders.
Traders seen in Image 3 are those from surrounding villages who entered trade recently. The open space that they occupied for trade was once used as a garbage dump by the local government. Traders cleared the site and occupied it. New traders among both migrants and periphery occupy spaces at the edge of the santhe location. Traders occupying spaces at the boundary of the place where first cycle / weekly trade is conducted in the santhe entered into sharing arrangements for the use of place in different times.
Traders seen in Image 3 are those from surrounding villages who entered trade recently. The open space that they occupied for trade was once used as a garbage dump by the local government. Traders cleared the site and occupied it. New traders among both migrants and periphery occupy spaces at the edge of the santhe location. Traders occupying spaces at the boundary of the place where first cycle / weekly trade is conducted in the santhe entered into sharing arrangements for the use of place in different times.
Santhe trade, particularly, the first cycle of trade, is connected to local economies of different wards in the city. Many of them source their merchandise either from their villages or at the santhe. Due to the scale of trade in the santhe location during the early morning cycle and on weekly santhe cycle, wholesalers located in the centre city of the market organize to supply merchandise directly at the santhe location. Small traders from neighbouring wards as well as those trading in bulk in the first cycle source their merchandise from both farmers and wholesale traders in the KR Market ward in the city centre.
Santhe traders negotiate for their spaces as a group. Santhe traders hold land under different tenure including group claims, renting, leasing and outright purchase. Tenure forms in Santhe are shaped by the groups or individuals time of entry to trade at that location, time of everyday cycle of trade and place of origin (Raman 2010). The early generation of santhe traders moved between different location in the city and some of them continue this practice of trading at three or four neighbourhoods even today.
Weekly Trade:
The volume of trade is equally high on one day in a week during the second cycle, also described as weekly trading or traders in this article (Images 4 & 5).
The volume of trade is equally high on one day in a week during the second cycle, also described as weekly trading or traders in this article (Images 4 & 5).
Image 4: Weekly trading in KR Puram Agglomeration
Traders’ perception of claims to santhe territory is based on an hierarchised tacit acceptance of the first claim to that of santhe traders, then the first cycle traders and second cycle. The second cycle traders occupy only part of the santhe territory and on the day of Santhe, part of second cycle traders do not trade as they share their space with the weekly traders.
Image 5: Weekly Santhe Trade Day in KR Puram
Expansion to Daily Second Cycle of Trade:
Image 6: Second daily time cycle of trade in KR Puram
The present generation of second cycle daily traders traced the evolution of this cycle to the mid-eighties. The first group of daily traders were those who moved from labourers to trade.The first daily cycle of trade often employed 2-3 labourers for transporting their goods from the bus-station to the santhes and for sorting and cleaning the merchandise. A group of five unskilled labourers entered trade with the support of their employers and started to trade after the first cycle of trade and their clientele was mainly the squatter residents and passer-by. As the santhe is located along a main thoroughfare, squatter residents along the main road erected temporary sheds for renting out as petty shops or for their own business. They were joined by squatters organized by the local branch of a state level federation viz. the DSS in the early eighties. Overtime squatter residents working for first cycle traders purchased or collected rejected merchandise and sold to low income passerby and squatter residents.
Image 7: Flower trade in second cycle
At present, the second cycle daily traders occupy part of the santhe land, specifically the open space in front of an enclosed market (Image 6); vegetable traders (Image 8) dominate this cycle of trade. Bulk and retail trading of flowers (Image 7), are allowed during the first cycle but restricted to small scale trade, in the second cycle.
Image 8: Bulk vegetable market
Over the years, the CMC has attempted several times to reclaim the santhe land from traders. The early among these attempts is the acquisition of santhe land used by weekly traders for constructing a district land records office and a court. Daily and weekly traders were evicted but following the representation by farmers and traders, who were and continue to be the key political constituencies for elected representatives at the State level and the Central government, they were allowed to reoccupy the santhe land. There was a reduction in the area available for trade but as the number of traders were less at that time, traders re-adjusted among themselves to accommodate their counter parts. Thus, by the mid eighties, two everyday cycles of trade and weekly trade was conducted at this location.
During the decade that followed, i.e., 1985-1995, shown in column B of Fig.2, the number of traders trading during the two cycles in particular the second cycle increased rapidly. Although the DSS organized squatting in different wards of Eastern periphery their main agenda was to lobby the state for the construction of permanent houses for its constituency. Both the squatters and the petty traders along the main road were evicted in 1991 and shifted to a resettlement colony, 15 km away from the city periphery. As KR Puram santhe was one of the main employment node for many re-settled families, they returned back to the Santhe land. The formation of IT corridor to consolidate the new economies located in the outer-peripheral wards to the east and south east of the city catalyzed a real estate boom in several wards including KR Puram. Many small and medium farmers in the villages surrounding KR Puram ward, sold their land to real estate developers, pre-dominantly large developers. With the location of IT parks in a neighbouring ward, upper middle income residential complexes were built in KR Puram and other wards of eastern periphery. KR Puram market retained its popularity among these new settlers. Farm labourers entered street trade and they were joined by street traders from the wards within the Bangalore City Corporation’s jurisdiction after losing their places. By 1993, the number of traders trading during the second cycle increased from 22 to 165 and first cycle traders, according to tax collector numbered upto 400-500. By this time, as the supply by small farmers has declined, many traders sourced their produce directly from the KR Market ward. Due to the density of trade during the early morning cycle KR Market wholesale traders organize the transportation of the merchandise to KR Puram.
Image 9 : Fruit traders outside the santhe location
Until the 90s fruit, flower and vegetable traders of the second cycle used to cluster within the santhe space. In 1998, they moved out and occupied a pedestrian pathway outside the santhe location. According to fruit traders, the State’s intervention was a factor for the conflict among traders in different types of perishable trade.
According to street traders, with every eviction, they were “like mules” which returned back to their location. While there was a grudging acceptance of the first cycle trade and extended trade on one day of a week. Following a compromise between street traders and a representative of State legislature, in 1996, the CMC constructed an enclosed market during the second cycle of trade. A market complex was constructed to accommodate 46 shop keepers.The market place is unoccupied since then.
Besides the problem with the list preparation, another conflict erupted between the State and the shopkeepers over allocation of shops. This is particularly between the State and those in fruit trade and vegetable trade. According to fruit traders, the allocation of space benefitted the vegetable traders. Fruit traders were located at the end, wherein there is not much circulation. Since many customers come to the market for vegetables, fruit traders argued that they be allotted the shops in the front. Due to this conflict over shop allocation, fruit traders and a section of small traders who were not included in the list moved to the vacant land in front of the market complex. The vegetable traders traded for 4-5 months inside the complex and then followed them citing that the custom is too less for the high rent charged for the shops. Further according to the leader of traders association, the shops of size 15’x12’ were rented out for Rs.700 per month but there were several problems. There was no security, or basic infrastructure such as water, toilet and electricity.
When traders initially asked for electricity connection to the shops, they were told, “why don’t you apply in your individual name, and get a commercial connection?” In the ensuing conflict between traders, vegetable traders occupied the vacant space in front of the new market complex and fruit traders moved out to occupy a pavement opposite the santhe. Today the market is empty and CMC is hoping to convince the traders to move into the complex.
When traders initially asked for electricity connection to the shops, they were told, “why don’t you apply in your individual name, and get a commercial connection?” In the ensuing conflict between traders, vegetable traders occupied the vacant space in front of the new market complex and fruit traders moved out to occupy a pavement opposite the santhe. Today the market is empty and CMC is hoping to convince the traders to move into the complex.
The shop sizes are of two types viz., 15’x 20’ and 5’x 7’. The CMC officials had allotted shops according to a lottery.The lottery allotment was such that traders in a particular trade were not able to cluster together in a line. The traders argue that clustering by trade is necessary for their business.Further there was a disagreement between fruit and vegetable traders about locating in the front portion of the market. Although the traders association attempted to re-organize the allotment, those who were allotted shops in premier business spots within the market refused to move inside. The complex remains unoccupied for the last thirteen years.
Shifting one trade to another i.e. from vegetable trade to fruit trade mid level retailers are reluctant to shift trade to the new location inside the market as they argue that developing the network of suppliers and clientele takes time. Such mobility is easier for those with a small scale of investment.
Shifting one trade to another i.e. from vegetable trade to fruit trade mid level retailers are reluctant to shift trade to the new location inside the market as they argue that developing the network of suppliers and clientele takes time. Such mobility is easier for those with a small scale of investment.
The “Santhe” – an open place, has maintained its openness in terms of the traders who could occupy it. The patterns of occupancy described above show the flexibility in the use of space and the hierarchised claim arrangements between traders. IT also allowed different groups among the poor – those with investment and those without it to locate in it for trade. Does the successive state actions to restrict numbers, via instruments of hawking zones and licences threaten to erase this flexibility? The jury is out in the open. In parallel to the State efforts to restrict santhe trade, another new actor entered the santhe economy. These are the agents of large retail chains who saw santhe traders as a useful conduit to circulate their products. Pitting themselves against the wholesale traders of the city market, the retail chains promised to supply traders on credit.
Traders' Association :
The politics at the Santhes remain fluid as is its trading (economic) organisation. The traders organisation housed in a shop of second cycle traders was revived in early 2000.The youth among the second cycle traders mobilized all traders’ grievances against the tender, relating to the lack of infrastructure and contestation over the fee collected by the tenderer.
The ‘KR puram Dina Wari Tharkari Mathu Hannu Varathakar Sanga’, as the name suggests, the association was originally formed in the mid-eighties, by a group of second cycle daily traders. The aim of the association then was to fight for retail hawkers’ (i.e daily hawkers’) right to trade on the Santhe location during all days of a week. Its membership was thus limited to retail hawkers and not to the various groups trading on Tuesday from the santhe location. When the rumor to shift santhes from this location started, a group of youth traders, trading during both cycles of trade in a day, revived an old association. Members of this group are the second or third generation to trade from this location. Although the charter of this association is to work for daily hawkers, currently both weekly and daily hawkers are currently using this organisation to lobby against eviction. In order to increase its legitimacy, the youth network is active in fighting for issues common to traders using this place at different times such as (i) stability of trading for weekly hawkers in santhe (ii) upgrading santhes infrastructure (iii) securing the management of santhes location.
Following the street protest at KR puram, the CMC awarded a temporary contract for managing the santhe land to the traders association. This formed the context for negotiation over eviction among all traders. The agenda of the network was to upgrade the infrastructure at this location. The calculation being that with consolidation of infrastructure, eviction would be harder. The leaders of the association were also active in the politics at their residential settlements. Unlike in other areas, their strategies mimicked the consolidation techniques of the squatters, where confrontation is one of the ways by which they engage with the State to strengthen their claims.
Image 10: Traders' Association in KR Puram Santhe
The banner in image 10 is an announcement of a festival organised by second cycle traders’, who also control the KR Puram street traders’ organisation. A trader-leader’s stall is used to display the items presented to street traders. The organisation was revived by a network of youth traders in 2000 to secure the contract from the State for the management of santhe land. The leaders believed that collective resistance in itself will be difficult to negotiate for santhe land because the contract was between the State and tenderer. Second, they saw the contract as a way to negotiate directly with the State.
The State Interventions and Occupancy Patterns:
The pressure to evict traders intensified post 2000 as a result of the State priorities to elevate Bangalore to the global city status. All group of traders perceived their eviction was imminent and the chances of resisting harder as compared to earlier times. The CMC which owned the land wanted to reclaim it to realize the real estate gains as it was located in a strategic location along the IT corridor.
The image of informal trade is another issue facing the CMC and they initially opposed conducting second cycle trade resulting in faced frequent eviction and raids. While there was a lull for a year, Rumors of eviction of weekly and daily traders and their relocation to a site 15 km from the present location started to re-circulate since early 2001. A group of traders along the main road were evicted to form the land and as many of them were not aware of the acquisition they were not able to resist it. Pressure on daily traders to move inside the complex increased and the State representative held discussions with the weekly traders about a possible relocation to a place 1.5 km in the interior of the ward.
The image of informal trade is another issue facing the CMC and they initially opposed conducting second cycle trade resulting in faced frequent eviction and raids. While there was a lull for a year, Rumors of eviction of weekly and daily traders and their relocation to a site 15 km from the present location started to re-circulate since early 2001. A group of traders along the main road were evicted to form the land and as many of them were not aware of the acquisition they were not able to resist it. Pressure on daily traders to move inside the complex increased and the State representative held discussions with the weekly traders about a possible relocation to a place 1.5 km in the interior of the ward.
Besides the conflict between the State and traders, disagreements arose between different groups of traders as to who has the rightful claim to locate in santhe land. Trade expanded and some second cycle traders captured land to trade in bulk during the first cycle. During my field work, main trading location controlled by traders and farmers were often pushed to the edges of the santhe. Being a main node for retail trade, there was a high competition for place among farmers and street traders. The alliances between these two groups can alter the outcomes of eviction both at the group and the individual level.
The youth group heading the association argued that a direct confrontation with the State is difficult as the contract for management of land is between the State and the tenderer. In theory, a cancellation of tender would automatically result in eviction and traders bargaining power would be weaker as the State did not take direct action. Further, the association and the MLA in power at that time were at logger heads over the latter’s support to his opponent. Their strategy was to take over the management of santhe land. In 2004, prior to my field work, a group of youth traders trading in both cycles of trade organized traders across different cycles and blocked the ward’s traffic. The problem was framed as one of corruption of the land manager and following the intervention of the MLA, the land administration was handed over to the youth leaders. By then, a group of second cycle traders have expanded their trade by finding a place to trade in both time cycles. The first cycle is also used by weekly traders from nearby residents who use it as one more place to circulate their goods quickly. The group saw it as an opportunity to strengthen their ties with the bureaucrats and to organize traders across different time cycle to avert eviction. Although street traders managed to stall the eviction until the end of 2006, the jury is out in the open.
The chances of KR puram santhe traders appears possible going by the experience of their counterparts in other parts of the city.The Madivala santhe has evolved into a daily market with the first generation of santhe traders being bought out by new group including Tamil migrants and Muslim natives in trade. At another location, the weekly market was pushed out for road expansion with no alternative land allocation to traders. Further, in Madivala, the santhe land was taken over by the BCC to construct a IT hardware park, which then morphed into a departmental store. In fact, the KR market, the main market node of the city, evolved as a santhe location and has been continuously re-organised through urban renewal programmes since the 60s. The last attempt to licence traders and restrict numbers proved to be a snake and ladder game both for the State and the traders.
In 2009, the municipality boundary was extended and both were annexed to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP). Following my field work in 2011, the State attempt to evict them ended with re-organisation and marking of boundaries beyond which the traders were not allowed to trade. On April 29th, the State attempted to evict traders and farmers but did not succeed. This was followed by re-organisation of santhe trade in a restricted space. This attempt failed after a few days. On April 29, 2013, the plan to build a multi-storeyed market was revived for which they attempted to evict traders. The conflict is far from over.
Conclusion:
The santhe story highlighted in this essay reflects the continuous contestations to claim city territories and to shape it according to their interest.This politics is characterized by fluidity that cannot be captured in a linear trajectory of win or loss. In addition, what the santhe story highlights is the complexity of claim politics involving actors beyond the State and the competing claimants resorting to a range of strategies, one of which is resistance politics. The Santhe phenomenon described above also raises questions about the binary categories of legal/illegal; informal/formal; modern/traditional used to read cities.
Author's Bio- Note:
Bhuvaneswari Raman is an Associate Professor and also Assistant Director, Centre for the Study of Science, Society and Sustainability at Jindal Global University.
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