Who built these shelters?

Who built these shelters?
By G Manjusainath,DH News Service,Bangalore:
While the BBMP floated tenders last year in October for the construction of the bus shelters at Ulsoor, Indiranagar, Kensington Road and Old Madras Road, the same were to be done under the MPLADS on the recommendation of Sangliana in October 2005.

Have you ever heard of a bus shelter under the MPLAD scheme constructed on the ‘Build Operate and Transfer’ (BOT) and ‘Develop, Operate and Transfer (DOT) basis?

Well, this is the marvel of the BBMP. The bus shelters in question were to be at Ulsoor, Indiranagar, Kensington Town, Binnamangala and Old Madras Road but only three have come up so far.

The million dollar question with regard to the bus shelters is ‘Whose baby is it?’ Does it belong to the BBMP or the expelled BJP MP H T Sangliana.

While the BBMP floated tenders last year in October for the construction of the bus shelters at Ulsoor, Indiranagar, Kensington Road and Old Madras Road, the same were to be done under the MPLADS on the recommendation of Sangliana in October 2005.

On the MP’s recommendation, the then deputy commissioner of Bangalore Urban district M A Sadiq had given administrative approval for the construction of the bus shelters on January 18, 2006.

Missing bus shelters

But till the end of 2007, there were no bus shelters at those places. In this regard, Deccan Herald published a report last year on August 27 titled ‘Despite aid, bus shelters remain unsheltered!’ Subsequently, a team headed by the assistant commissioner visited the locations to see the ‘missing bus shelters.’

As the matter was in progress, Sangliana shot off a letter to Sadiq requesting him to cancel the sanction ‘due to the reason of wrong selection of spots.’ Interestingly, the BBMP came into the picture on November 26, 2007, which floated tenders for bus stops at Ulsoor, Kensington Town and Old Madras Road.

People of Ulsoor say that the BBMP made the bus shelters but what had happened to the administrative sanction given to Sangliana’s proposal for bus shelters in all the places, remains a mystery.

Sangliana said, he had asked the DC Sadiq to cancel the sanction. “The BBMP had some plans about the designs of the bus shelters, so they wanted to construct it. I did not follow up what had happened to my letter asking the urban DC to cancel the sanction,” said Sangliana.

On the other hand, the then deputy commissioner of Bangalore Urban M A Sadiq said he has no idea about the case. “It was long back when I gave administrative sanction to the bus shelters. I am no more the DC of Bangalore Urban. I have no idea what has happened,” said Sadiq. He admitted that the MP can withdraw the proposal under the MPLADS even after the administrative sanction is given but not after the construction starts.
However, a letter writen by the executive engineer of the Panchayath Raj Engineering Division, dated April 5, 2007, says that the fabrication work for remaining five bus shelters is in progress.

What had happened to the ‘five fabricated bus shelters’ is a mystery. There is no one to answer where the fabricated bus shelters have been dumped.

NO AMENITIES

The bus shelters in question have no amenities. Even though several heavyweights are behind the construction of the bus shelters, it neither have seats for the commuters nor light. “It is an ‘Adda’ (meeting point) of miscreants in the night in absence of light. People even fear going to these bus stops. The BMTC too is apathetic as buses are not stopped at these bus shelters,” said Kalidas Reddy, one of the residents who fought for the bus shelters.