Illegal pay & park at BBMP HQ

llegal pay & park at BBMP HQ

The BBMP has banned collection of parking fees everywhere in the city, yet ‘pay and park’ thrives in its own premises at Hudson Circle

Atul Chaturvedi
Posted On Thursday, January 08, 2009 at 01:01:46 AM

Officially, the pay and park scheme, which spawned so much malpractice, no longer exists in Bangalore. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has made this clear by withdrawing its circular allowing collection of parking fee from motorists across the city. Yet the scheme exists in its own HQ!

Drive into the BBMP head office at Hudson Circle and a man walks up to you to collect the parking fee. His assured nonchalance convinces you that arguing with him about the rules is not going to make the slightest difference.

RIGHT UNDER ITS NOSE
Mahadev, a resident of Janata Nagar near Mysore Road, has in fact been collecting parking fee from motorists at the BBMP head office for the past 17 years and he has no intention to stop. Neither does the BBMP. No one prevents Mahadev from collecting parking fee as he is known to all the BBMP officers. “ I have worked under various contractors. I have five members in my family and I live in a slum. I need to meet the requirements of my family members, for which I collect the fee,” he said.

Two-wheelers are charged Rs 2 per hour and four-wheelers Rs 10. Mahadev said a contractor gives him Rs 15-20 each time he visits the BBMP office. “I don’t force anyone to pay the fee. I go to the BBMP office around 9 am and leave around 7 pm. I earn Rs 200 a day and that is enough to sustain my family,” Mahadev added.

CASH COW
The pay and park scheme was abolished by former mayor R Narayanaswamy in 2005. It saw an all-too-brief revival on January 2 this year before the BBMP brass rescinded the decision the very next day. The pay and park scheme was a cash cow for the BBMP, fetching Rs 6 crore a year from contractors. The civic body is actually itching to reintroduce the system.

BBMP REACTS
The civic body feigned ignorance about violation in its own premises. P A Meghannavar, additional commissioner, administration (BBMP), said, “BBMP has not awarded contract to anyone to collect fee at its office. If anyone is asked for parking fee they should not pay. Public can lodge a complaint at the BBMP control room. Action will be taken against those found collecting parking fee.”