BENGALURU: Amidst all the euphoria over the operations of the full Purple Line since October 9 last year, there has been one major negative fallout – the diminishing importance of the Baiyappanahalli Metro station, a bustling terminal earlier. The contractor manning the parking lot has since then run into heavy losses and has thrown in the towel recently. With no parking facility available at the station for three weeks now, commuters who bring their vehicles over and then board Metro trains here are highly inconvenienced.
Two boards stating the parking is temporarily closed have come up outside the gate. There is no mention of the reason or when it could possibly open again. The parking lot on the Old Madras Road side is among the biggest ones at Metro stations with a provision for 280 two-wheelers, 25 cars and 10 cycles.
A senior official of the Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation told TNIE, “The contractor Sahana Enterprises shut shop on February 21 this year. Three months earlier, he had submitted a letter specifying that he was opting out of the contract as his losses were running into lakhs. It was a three-year contract and he has run it for 21 months. So, the contract rules allow him to leave with a three-month notice which he has done.”
Ever since Metro commenced operations in 2011, hundreds of office goers used to park their vehicles at the parking lot here and take a bus or office vehicle to K R Pura or Whitefield for work The crucial linkage between Baiyappanahalli and K R Pura which allowed people to reach up to Kadugodi (Whitefield) has ensured this crowd no longer uses it.
“Public are now parking their vehicles at places like Jyotipura and other stations near their homes and use the Metro. Hence the contractor has been getting only 30% of the business he used to get in the last six months,” he added.
Asked about how many Metro stations faced such an issue, another official said, “This is the only station as of now where we are facing the problem. We have already awarded a new contract to Smart Lens Pvt Limited and he will start operations shortly.”
Among the commuters distressed over the development is Pranav Balakrishnan, a Digital Electronics Engineer. “I used to park my cycle here and use the Metro regularly to commute between Baiyappanahalli and M G Road. That is not possible anymore and it is very inconvenient for me and many others,” he said.
The next parking lot is Swami Vivekananda Metro station which is a much smaller parking lot, the commuter added.