BBMP multi-level parking lot has no takers

Hameed Ashraf| NT

Everyone knows about the lack of parking space in the Central Business District (CBD) but ironically, there are no agencies willing to operate the ambitious multi-level parking facility built at Freedom Park with an aim to decongest the CBD, especially Gandhinagar and nearby areas.

It took six years for Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike ( B B M P ) t o construct the parking facility at an estimated cost of Rs 78 crore. Despite floating multiple tenders in a span of four months, the civic body is struggling to find an agency to operate the structure.

According to sources in BBMP, the high tariff has left bidders disinterested since they feel it’s difficult to recover the investment, especially during the pandemic. The Palike is now forced to slash the tariff to lure bidders.

“We had f i x e d t h e tariff after consulting experts and considering the traffic density around the facility. But there’s been no response to the three tenders we floated. We’re considering modifying the bid and revising the tender conditions,” a senior BBMP official said. Given the lack of response, it was also 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.

With the density of vehicles increasing by the day, traders from Gandhinagar, Avenue Road and surrounding markets are getting impatient as work on the facility is mostly complete but it is not yet operational.

Jaychand Bafna, a trader from Gandhinagar said, “For over a year, there has been a banner 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 rather than leaving his/her vehicle on the street, where it might not be safe or could be towed away.”