Mangaluru’s Sunday Bazaar has shifted from the area outside Town Hall to Rosario Road near State Bank, but vendors say the new location is drawing fewer customers and leaving them with little income after expenses. The Mangaluru City Corporation permitted 93 vendors to operate at the alternative site following a five-month campaign by street traders.
The weekly market had previously operated around Town Hall every Sunday, attracting local residents as well as customers from outside the district. Vendors sold vegetables, fruit, groceries, clothes and other household goods, with the market serving as a major source of weekly income for several families. Municipal officials moved the traders after complaints that their activities were encroaching on footpaths and causing inconvenience to pedestrians and other members of the public.
The relocation resolved the vendors’ immediate demand for an authorised trading area, but traders say it has weakened the commercial connection between the market and its customers. Thippanna, a vendor who brings vegetables from Ranebennur in Haveri district, said sales had fallen at the new location because of the shortage of customers. He also said some traders were still setting up pushcarts near Town Hall.
Most of the Sunday Bazaar vendors have come to Mangaluru from districts in north Karnataka, including Gadag, Koppal, Vijayapura, Bagalkot, Raichur and Kalaburagi. They have settled in the city and depend on small-scale trade to support their families. Rukmini, a vegetable and greens seller from Gadag, said she had been working in Mangaluru for 15 years and used her earnings to pay household expenses, rent and her children’s school fees.
The traders say unsold stock is adding to the cost of the move. Hanumanthappa, another vendor, said vegetables that do not sell at the new location must be taken to the Monday market in Puttur. If they remain unsold there, the produce may have to be discarded. For vendors selling perishable goods, the location of a market directly affects the ability to recover the cost of procurement and transport.
The South Canara District Street Vendors’ Association has asked the municipal corporation to provide drinking water and toilet facilities at the new site. The association also said approvals were still pending for 10 to 15 traders because of minor corrections in documents and delays in verification. Its honorary president, B.K. Imtiyaz, urged the corporation to complete those approvals and publicise the Sunday Bazaar through newspapers and other media so that customers know about the change.
The traders say the market remains their principal livelihood. A vendor selling flour and other food products brought from Badami said the income from the bazaar was the main support for his family. The municipal decision has therefore created a functioning authorised market, but its success now depends on whether customers can be brought to the new location and whether basic facilities are provided for the traders and visitors.
