Parking lot proposed at Freedom Park

Parking lot proposed at Freedom Park
BENGALURU


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BDA ALLOTED PROJECT, OPPOSITION SEES RED Five acres of land at Freedom Park would be handed over to BDA for the three- tiered underground parking lot while the ground above would be earmarked for protests and dharnas.

Three vacan places including Freedom Park opposite Maharani’s College have been identified for construction of multilevel parking lots and will be handed over to Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) for executing the project, said transport minister R. Ashok on Monday.
Lack of proper parking space is a serious problem in the city with touts making the most of vacant spaces to earn a living by extracting a fee from people who park vehicles there.

Addressing reporters after an inspection, Mr Ashok said that with commercial activities mushrooming across Bengaluru, finding

paraking space has become a challenge. Five acres of land at Freedom Park would be handed over to BDA for the three-tiered underground parking lot while the ground above would be earmarked for protests and dharnas. f est in executing the project using its own funds. The r subject would be placed before the BBMP council for its approval before the project is handed over to BDA, Mr Ashok said. The move to hand over the project to BDA has met with stiff opposition from the Congress party with Opposition leader in the BBMP council M. Nagaraj saying they would not allow the proposal to be approved. The BBMP was competent to execute the work, he asserted. Asked if BBMP did not have the expertise to execute these projects, Mr Ashok quipped that BDA would complete the project faster and also fund it themselves.
Mr Ashok was accompanied by BWSSB minister Katta Subramanya Naidu.

The two ministers who are in charge of Bengaluru, inspected a few places in Gandhinagar constituency during their visit.

The parking project was mooted about two years ago with BBMP preparing a Detailed Project Report (DPR) which put the project cost at Rs 40 crore. Vacant areas near Shiroor park in Seshadripuram and near Dattatreya Temple in

Malleswaram would also be used for construction of multi storeyed parking lots which would also have office space for BBMP.
The BDA has also been entrusted the task of rejuvenating lakes and providing signal free corridors in the city.

A visitor to Freedom Park felt the project should be completed as early as possible to solve the problem of traffic congestion. The government and BBMP have already delayed the project by over two years, he said.

Sources in BBMP said rocks have been found underneath the surface soil near Freedom Park during the underground radar survey. Removing the boulders would be an expensive affair, they said.