Stadium land: For parking or sports?

Stadium land: For parking or sports?
Monday December 17 2007 08:02 IST

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

BANGALORE: The car parking contract given to Mallya Hospital on Kanteerava Stadium premises has expired.

The Stadium authorities have started work on reclaiming that piece of land for their purposes. It is business as usual. So what is the status of the proposal submitted by the Mallya Hospital to the Governor?

Advisor to the Governor, P K H Tharakan, who handles Youth Services says that no proposal has come before him yet. Apparently, Mallya Hospital management is really keen on continuing the contract and are said to have offered to build a multi-level parking facility and add a sports hostel on the top floor of the building.

However, Sports Authorities are not keen on the idea. The land which adds upto nearly 50,000 square feet might is giving a revenue of 1.5 lakh a month for the car parking, but now that the lease is over, Stadium officials want to start developing it for various sports.

Sources in Youth Services department felt that it was a bad idea to give the space for parking contract. In a clear move reflecting their intentions, they have now levelled the area and want to construct a compound on the side facing the road.

The Stadium Management Committee is at present working on a proposal to utilise the land for sports activities. Sources say that there is no dispute regarding the area, as the contract has ended and that hospital has no locus standi on the issue.

A source commented: “The stadium is surrounded by various kinds of buildings. The stadium cannot be used to provide parking for all these places. There is a shortage of infrastructure in sports and this place will be utilised for that purpose.’’

Under building bylaw, parking should be available in the basement, but Mallya Hospital is known to have converted some area of the basement for lab facilities. As a result, there is a lack of parking space for visitors as well as the hospital staff.