The Chennai Corporation has floated tenders for parking management system and cycle sharing system. The charges for cycles are expected to be less than ₹10 per hour. At least 12,000 parking spaces will also be developed shortly.
The civic body has cancelled the previous tender owing to inadequate number of bidders for the projects. “We had just one bid for parking management system and one bid for cycle sharing system. So the tender was cancelled,” said an official.
According to statutory provisions relating to tender transparency, it is the discretion of the officials concerned to issue order for work by the single bidder. “But we did not want to take risk. More than 22 bidders participated in the pre-bid meeting. They wanted to study all aspects of the new system. We are giving more time and all their concerns have been addressed now. More bids are expected this time,” said the official.
All the 12,000 car spaces will have real time sensors to locate the vehicle. “Civic officials will know who paid the charges and who violated the rules,” said an official.
The city will get at least 5,000 cycles in the first phase. The bidders will get more time to prepare and study the city to figure out various aspects of the public-private partnership. “In the second phase, they will get as much cycles as the city demands,” said an official.
