Bengaluru's Brigade Road wears a deserted look as city sees rapid surge in COVID-19 cases

Several shops, including branded shoe and clothing stores, have been open to customers since earlier this month, but the Bengaluru's iconic street Brigade road remain almost deserted, a rare and spooky sight for Bengaluru residents.

Bengaluru: With the ever-bustling Brigade road of Bengaluru wearing a deserted look on Saturday, the shop owners who were hopeful that the businesses would surely improve in the first week of June, had dejected faces, as the state witnessed a rapid surge in COVID-19 cases on the day.

Bengaluru on Saturday recorded 596 new Covid-19 cases — the biggest single-day spike. Three more deaths linked to the virus were also confirmed in the capital city.

At the same time, 918 new cases were reported from across the state as the tally in Karnataka rose to 11,923. The death toll in the state — with 11 more people succumbing to the infection — rose to 191.

The footfall in the business establishments at the Brigade road that began to decrease drastically when the city recorded the first case of novel coronavirus on March 9 and situation never went back to normal since then even after the lockdown was lifted in a phased manner.

As per reports, shop owners had anticipated that there will be a sluggish growth in May but the business will surely improve in the first week of June. But that did not happen and some of them were forced to liquidate their business establishments.

Several shops, including branded shoe and clothing stores, have been open to customers since the beginning of this month, but the city’s iconic streets remain almost deserted, a rare and spooky sight for Bengaluru residents.

"As the rent prices in Brigade Road ranges from Rs 250 to 400 sq/ft, owners have other commitments like electricity, salaries for workers etc. At present, around 80% of businesses are in loss and for other 20% it is difficult to even meet these commitments," said Suhail Yusaff, secretary of Brigade Shops Association.

However, some of the landowners have waived off 50% rent of the shops to support the businessmen but still due to low sale and heavy losses, shops are being closed.

"Also shop owners in Brigade road are expecting that more than 20 to 25 shops will be closed in coming months," Yusaff added.

"If e-commerce is stopped, then retailers can expect growth of business but most of the e-commerce websites sell China-based products, which are cheaper and people will prefer to buy them only," he concluded.