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Palike panel for slashing Town Hall rent by half

Recommends Rs 30,000 for Kannada events, Rs 67,000 for others
Last Updated 13 October 2015, 21:00 IST

A committee formed by the Palike to revise the rent of Sir Puttanna Chetty Town Hall has recommended slashing it by almost half the existing rate.

The Public Works Department had increased the rent of the Town Hall from Rs 5,000 to Rs  1.25 lakh per day. The 25-fold increase in the rent outraged the writers, theatre activists and the artistes, who took to streets protesting exorbitant rates.

The public outrage forced the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to constitute a committee led by Special Commissioner J Ravishankar to fix the rent for the Town Hall. The Palike also sought the advice of Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL).

The BECIL engineer Narasimha Swamy had recommended for three categories of rents. He suggested that the programmes for which tickets are sold, the daily rent should be Rs 73,000 while for others it should be Rs 67,000. For the Kannada events, the rate should be Rs 30,000. These rates were based on a 'no-profit-no-loss' basis.
Two categories

On the other hand, Ravishankar Committee, in a report submitted to the BBMP commissioner, has recommended for two categories of rent -
Rs 67,000 and Rs 30,000. This proposal will be tabled in the next BBMP Council meeting.
The revised rates would come into effect from November 1, if the Palike gives its nod to the recommendations made by the committee.

However, the existing rental rate of Rs 1.25 lakh per day will be in force till the Palike approves the revised rental rates. Since its renovation at a cost of Rs 7 crore, the Town Hall has played host to just eight programmes. Meanwhile, the Palike has requested the Bengaluru  Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) to increase the power supply load from 100 kv to 200 kv. The energy demand at the Town Hall has increased due to the installation of centralised air-conditioner.

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(Published 13 October 2015, 21:00 IST)

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