BENGALURU: The multi-level parking lot at Freedom Park that took six years to build has been waiting for three months now to be commissioned. Reason: three tenders called by Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to run the facility hasn’t elicited any response.
“Three tenders have been called since November, but not one bidder has come forward. The common fear is the facility might not generate adequate revenue given that citizens park for free in areas surrounding it. Subsequently, we held a meeting with police officers to ensure no-parking signs are installed in the facility’s vicinity. The idea behind this parking lot is to decongest commercial areas,” said M Lokesh, chief engineer, BBMP.
Work to construct the multi-level parking lot began in 2015 and it was supposed to be completed in 2017. The project was delayed for several reasons, including lack of permission to carry out blasts to negotiate the rocky subterranean surface on which the construction was to happen. The project was developed at a cost of Rs 78 crore. The facility can accommodate 550 cars and 500 two-wheelers.
With the density of vehicles increasing by the day, traders from Gandhinagar, Avenue Road and other surrounding markets are getting impatient as work on the facility is mostly complete but it is not yet operational.
Sajjan Raj Mehta, a trader from old Tharagupet, said once the facility is functional, it will benefit traders from surrounding markets. “In my opinion, the reason for the delay is mainly that no one holds the contractor responsible. The civic agency should start including a penalty clause in the contract agreement and penalise those contractors who fail to deliver on the agreed-upon date,” he said.
Jaychand Bafna, a trader from Gandhinagar, said: “For over a year, there has been a banner outside the property stating the multi-level parking lot is going to open soon. At this point, even the common man is more than willing to pay on an hourly basis at a parking facility than leaving his/her vehicle on the street, where it might not be safe or could be towed away.”
The only work pending is related to solar roofing as the facility is likely to run on solar energy, said Lokesh. “We are planning to give it to the bidder on a trial basis to assess how much revenue the parking facility might generate and then figure out the cost,” he added.
