Bengaluru flower market shift receives mixed reactions

Bengaluru: Shifting Bengaluru’s flower market to Gandhi Krishi Vijnan Kendra (GKVK), Hebbal, has received mixed reactions from different groups of people. While growers and exporters are happy with this move, several city retailers and vendors are annoyed with the decision. For vendors like Ramavathi from Padmanabhanagar, who used to buy flowers twice a day at KR Market, accessibility is the biggest concern. “KR Market is close, connected by metro, and convenient. Moving to Hebbal will be difficult,” she said.

However, Rakshith Gowda of International Flower Auction Bangalore Ltd said the new facility is set to address several long-standing issues. “KR Market lacks infrastructure such as parking, floods during rains, and has no cold storage. GKVK is situated near the railways and the airport. It is capable of providing modern storage facilities and easing congestion,” he said.

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According to Aravind TM, president of the South India Flower Association, daily-use flowers like jasmine and marigold will be sold at KR Market and Binny Mill, while export flowers such as cut flowers, roses, and gerberas have been shifted to GKVK. He also promised that trees at the site would be retained or transplanted.

However, retailers have several complaints about KR Market because it doesn’t have proper ventilation, toilets, a poor power supply, or lack of suitable loading spaces. “It is difficult to spend more than 20 minutes there due to suffocation,” said vendor Varmahalakshmi. The state government will have to improve KR Market while developing the GKVK flower market as a world-class facility.