The brutal flip side of development is being keenly felt by small but iconic businesses – the toy makers of Channapatna, Thatte idli outlets in Bidadi, Mysore Pak-makers in Ramnagara, and the owners of Vada stalls in Maddur – along the 119-kilometers-long Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway. Owners of these iconic cottage industries are ready to express their angst in the upcoming Assembly elections by way of either boycott or a strong rejection of the ruling BJP.
Before the expressway, the traffic from Bengaluru to Mysuru would invariably cross through these small towns – Bidadi, Ramnagara, Channapatna, Maddur – each famous for the brands they have created over the decades. The toys from Channapatna are, in fact, protected with a Geographical Indication (GI) tag under the World Trade Organisation.
Each of the other products, the Maddur Vadas, Thatte idlis, and Mysore Pak, are products famous for their individual characteristics and flavours. They were pit stops for holidaymakers and regular patrons who would make the journey from Bengaluru just to savour the Maddur Vadas, Thatte idlis, or buy Mysore Pak from Ramnagara. The tourists driving to Mysore, Ooty and destinations further down would throng these outlets on a daily basis.
But the expressway has blocked the easy access to these stops.
“The expressway has destroyed us. All toy shops have been hit. I used to employ six labourers earlier. Now there is only one and I can barely afford to keep him. I used to earn close to ₹5 lakh a month. Now my earnings have gone down to ₹50,000 per month. Earlier, a lot of tourists would come here. My shop was busy. No one comes here anymore,” said Pawan Deep, who runs a toy shop in Channapatna.
His anger is directed against the local MP, Pratap Simha, and the BJP. “I will vote for the JD(S) this time. They have finished our livelihood. This expressway has hit the employment of at least 10,000 workers, toy makers who have nowhere to go now,” he said.
Further down at Bidadi, the Thatte Idli makers have the same story to narrate. According to Lokesh Gowda, who runs Shri Shivsagar Thatte Idli shop, the business is down by 70 per cent.
“There were about 6-65 idli outlets around here. About 50 of them have shut down because of the expressway. My profit was about ₹1.5 lakh a month. Now it is down to ₹15,000-20,000 per month,” Gowda said.
Gowda would lodge his protest by not voting this time.
“They have ruined our lives. Most of us have sold our houses and hotels,” he said.
Suresh Babu HK, who runs ‘Shri Renukamba Thatte Idli shop’, established by his grandfather Nanjappa in 1955, feels helpless and bewildered.
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“If I earned 1 rupee before the expressway came, I now earn 20 paise. I had 30 workers in my shop. I now have 10. There were at least 100 hotels around here and almost 50 have shut down. I was hoping that the high cost of toll on the expressway would make people start using the old route. But that has not happened. We don’t know where to go, what to do,” he said.
Prashanth GT runs Janardan Hotel in Ramnagara, selling Mysore Pak. The shop was established in 1926 by his grandfather. His monthly earnings are down by ₹50,000 because of the expressway.
“It is development, so it has to happen. But they should have thought of us. What will happen to thousands of families who were doing well but are now in ruins? I hear they are establishing a 30-acre commercial area on the expressway to help us. But I will not move; this is where my family has run the business for generations,” he said.