Mangaluru Smart City Ltd. (MSCL) has dropped its move of developing an integrated transport hub (bus stand project) at Padil. Instead, it would be built at Pumpwell in front of Karnataka Bank headquarters, according to its Managing Director Mohammed Nazir.
The initial proposal was to develop the transport hub at Pumpwell. Later, it was proposed at Padil.
Speaking at the eighth city-level advisory forum meeting of the MSCL here on Saturday, he said that if the transport hub was to be built at Padil, private land had to be acquired. In addition, no private parties have shown interest to take up the project on a joint venture.
Hence the project would be taken up on 7.23 acres of land available with Mangaluru City Corporation (MCC) at Pumpwell. The MSCL would again send the ₹445-crore proposal to the high-powered committee of the State government seeking its approval to build the transport hub at Pumpwell under public-private partnership (PPP) model.
He said the contract of the multi-level car parking (MLCP) project at Hampankatta had been awarded to R.K. Infra Private Ltd., Bengaluru, under the PPP model. It would have provision to park 400 cars and 200 two-wheelers. Now, the MCC and owners of 22 properties in the old service bus stand area will have to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) before taking up the project.
Mr. Nazir said the MSCL invited the bids thrice to take up the modern Central Market Project under the PPP model, but none responded. During a review, the board of the MSCL felt that there was a need to relax certain conditions in the bid, especially the one related to rehabilitating the existing owners of shops and stalls in the market. The bid proposal contained that the one who would get the award would have to bear the rehabilitation cost also by creating infrastructure for the same.
Now, the MSCL would call the bid again within a week by deleting the clause related to rehabilitation, which would have to be done by the MCC. It has been proposed in the project to make provision for 597 shops and stalls.
Sindhu B. Rupesh, Deputy Commissioner, presided over the meeting.
