CMC to shift private bus stand in before Dasara

CMC President Kaveramma Somanna said that the private bus stand will be shifted to the newly built private bus stand near Race Course Road before Dasara. The final decision on the same will be taken within 15 days.

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, she said that she is confident of the private bus owners and drivers agreeing to the shifting.

There are allegations of poor quality of work. An amount of Rs 20 lakh is yet to be paid to the contractor. If there is any substandard work, the contractor will be paid only after the quality assurance, she clarified.

She said the private bus stand has been constructed by taking three acres of land belonging to the Horticultural Department. Initially, Basanth Consultancy was asked to prepare a DPR.

The DPR with bus terminal, concrete road, commercial complex and hotel was prepared at a cost of Rs 19.37 crore. Later, it was decided to construct the necessary infrastructure on PPP mode, which failed to get approval from the government.

Finally, the bus stand was constructed with the grants released by the government. As Rs 19 crore grant was not available, the estimate was reduced to Rs 4.99 crore.

According to the DPR, only bus terminal and other necessary works were taken up. While laying the foundation, groundwater was available. Realising the possible threat to the building, experts from Sullia inspected the land. Engineers were asked to fill the land with sand and stones. Based on the soil test report, the building was constructed. An additional quantity of iron was used in the construction. Hence, the expenditure escalated, she clarified.

The opposition is levelling allegations on substandard work. The bills for the work were cleared in a phased manner. There was a third party inspection of the building, she added.

In-charge commissioner Gopalakrishna said the bus service will commence after prohibiting the parking of vehicles on the industrial area.