While shifting old bus shelters away from traffic signals is yet to start, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) engineers are also delaying the renewal of tenders for 250 bus shelters across the city.
According to a senior official with the advertising section of BBMP, engineers are reluctant to even visit the section and share necessary details for issue of tenders for maintenance of bus shelters.
“While the contract for 250 bus shelters has expired, new tenders have to be floated but the process has been pending since July”, the official added. As many as nine departments of BBMP have to coordinate if tenders have to be floated.
“Meanwhile, advertising agencies whose contracts have expired are getting to advertise for free at BMTC bus shelters,” an official added.
Amidst all this, BMTC officials are of the view that the maintenance of bus shelters should be handed over to BMTC, and BBMP should not have anything to do with it. In fact, Minister for Transport R. Ramalinga Reddy had said a few months ago that bus shelters across the city should be brought under the administration of BMTC. However, as of now anything to do with bus shelters is the concern of BBMP, and as many as nine departments have to coordinate and work in tandem if one tender has to be floated. So the delay.
AVINASH BHAT
