Parking fee collected crosses Rs. 7 lakh in five weeks

Collection of parking fee from visitors to Dasara Exhibition at Doddakere Maidan has crossed Rs. 7 lakh during the first five weeks of the expo.

Revealing this to The Hindu , Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) Chief Executive Officer K.L. Basavaraju said the authority had decided against inviting tenders for collection of parking fee this year for various reasons.

Last year, the contract for collection of parking fee from visitors to the expo had been awarded for Rs. 5.5 lakh, he said. “If we continue to attract visitors at the same rate, we may even cross Rs. 20 lakh by the time the exhibition ends,” Mr. Basavaraju said.

The exhibition, which began on September 25, is expected to continue till December last week. While Rs. 5 was being collected from two-wheelers, Rs. 20 was being collected from four-wheelers, Rs. 30 from tempos and Rs. 50 from buses. Though the amount of parking fee was not revised, the collection from the same has increased, Mr. Basavaraju noted.

The KEA had installed closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at Doddakere Maidan opposite the main gate as well as the parking lot at the entrance from Ittigegud side. “We have installed eight CCTV sets and deployed a total of 23 private security personnel at the parking lots,” he added.

Officials said the KEA had decided to retain the rights to collect parking fee not only on account of complaints of over-charging and intimidation from contractors during the previous years, but also on account of litigation over ownership of the Doddakere Maidan between the Mysuru royal family and others.

The KEA, which floated a global tender for the exhibition this year, awarded the contract to a Bengaluru-based firm for Rs. 4.7 crore, but kept collection of parking fee out of its purview.

Based on the parking fee collected, Mr. Basavaraju estimated that around 5 lakh people had visited the exhibition during the first five weeks.

The actual number of entry tickets issued is available only with the contractor, who bagged the award, he added.

The number of visitors to the exhibition could have been more if rains had not lashed the city during the evening in the last few weeks, he said.