BENGALURU:For the last one week, those intending to park their vehicles at the Kempe Gowda Metro station were greeted with a notice stating, ‘Closed for renovation’.However, the reality is that the contractor has decided to abandon the contract owing to poor patronage.
Having completed just four months out of a 15-month contract, the licencee SG Group has put up the closure board outside the locked gates since March 28. The sprawling place was supposed to house 82 four-wheelers and 500 two-wheelers daily.To facilitate easy entry for the public, four entry gates were provided to reach the place - two on the Gubbi Thotadappa Road (opp City railway station) and two on the Tank Bund Road (Santhala Silks Road).
Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Limited (BMRCL) managing director Mahendra Jain confirmed to The New Indian Express that the contractor had recently decided to leave. “He has given us a three-month notice now. But he is supposed to keep it open and not shut it.”The MD assured that in the interest of the public, BMRCL would ensure the parking lot was kept open. “Even if it would be made free for parking, we will ensure that public get to use the space. It cannot be closed for users.”
The contractor would be asked to run it for the next three months or we will have to find another contractor to run it for the three months, he added. “Tenders cannot be called for immediately due to the model code of conduct. We will go in for re-tendering later,” he said.
Out of the `50 lakh contract, a fee of `42,60,600 had to be paid by the contractor as licence fee. Express had highlighted the poor patronage this parking lot was receiving a month after it was launched along with the absence of electricity here which made the place totally dark during late evenings and nights.
Aswath Reddy, who was managing the place on behalf of the licencee, expressed his shock at the poor patronage it was receiving and told TNIE that he had spent `50,000 to put up banners around the area to highlight the new parking spot.Night parking too was allegedly permitted illegally later in order to garner some revenue but it was stopped by BMRCL later.