No takers for maintenance of multi-level parking facility at Freedom Park in Bengaluru
The Hindu
BBMP now proposes to lease it for three months on a pilot basis
The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has spent ₹78 crore on the multi-level parking facility at Freedom Park with the aim of easing congestion in the central business district area. While it will be completed by March-end, its opening is likely to be pushed back by another couple of months. The reason: there appears to be no takers for the operation and management of the facility.
The civic body has floated the operation and management tender three times, but received no response. Senior civic officials told The Hindu that this was recently discussed at a high-level meeting. Given the lack of response, it was decided to lease the facility for three months, and keep all the revenue generated during this period as a base. This will then help the civic body revise the conditions of the tender.
M. Lokesh, BBMP’s chief engineer (Projects), told The Hindu that they had studied all the parking models, including that of Forum mall, Garuda Mall, Maharaja Shopping Complex, and on-street paid parking system that has been implemented already on a few roads in the city. “We then used the calculations prescribed by the Public Works Department to arrive at the base price that would be most financially viable for the BBMP,” he said.
The election authorities are gearing up for the counting of votes cast in the simultaneous elections to Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh, scheduled to be held on June 4. The Collectors and Election Officers of Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli and Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR) districts said on May 23 (Thursday) that their teams were ready for the counting of votes.
Responding to the prolonged water scarcity, the residents of the area took to the streets in protest on Wednesday. The protest, which drew attention to their plight, stopped only after the intervention of the police. It was not until 1.30 p.m. that a 4000-litre tanker was finally delivered by BWSSB, providing relief to the water-starved residents.