<p>The ban on commercial activities at the Palace Grounds does not apply to amusement parks, claims Fun World and Resort India Pvt Ltd, the company which runs various parks here.<br /></p>.<p> The ban came into effect last Friday, following an announcement in the Legislative Council, on Thursday. It does not apply to the firm as it operates under “status quo” granted by the Supreme Court to run the business, Vinod Kumar Sabharwal, the managing director, asserted. </p>.<p><br />The firm is a party to the civil suit concerning ownership of the Bangalore Palace, filed before the apex court after the State government enacted the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act, 1996. The company runs four amusement parks — the Star City, Snow City, Water World, and a boating house — spread over 12 acres at the Palace Grounds. <br /><br />Sabharwal claimed that none of the parks was housed in permanent structures.“These are essentially temporary structures built with iron rods,” he told Deccan Herald. “We have used nuts and bolts in the construction and decorated the structures that resemble permanent ones. But, they can be removed without much effort,” he said.That is to say, it did not face the risk of demolition as announced by the government.</p>.<p><br /> The company claimed that it had been paying more than Rs 40 lakh towards entertainment, property and other taxes. It got the building plan of each amusement park approved by the Directorate of Town and Country Planning. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike alone is paid nearly Rs 6.5 lakh annually. The entertainment tax runs into Rs 20 lakh. “We are not depriving the government of its revenue,” Sabharwal said.The firm says it gets its licence renewed every year, but business is “not very encouraging”.</p>.<p><br /> “We do business only for five months. There is no business during monsoon,” Sabharwal said. According to Sabharwal, the firm which employs nearly 300 families, was not served any notice with regard to the ban. “We learnt it only through the media. Once we get any notice, we’ll decide a suitable course of action,” he said.</p>
<p>The ban on commercial activities at the Palace Grounds does not apply to amusement parks, claims Fun World and Resort India Pvt Ltd, the company which runs various parks here.<br /></p>.<p> The ban came into effect last Friday, following an announcement in the Legislative Council, on Thursday. It does not apply to the firm as it operates under “status quo” granted by the Supreme Court to run the business, Vinod Kumar Sabharwal, the managing director, asserted. </p>.<p><br />The firm is a party to the civil suit concerning ownership of the Bangalore Palace, filed before the apex court after the State government enacted the Bangalore Palace (Acquisition and Transfer) Act, 1996. The company runs four amusement parks — the Star City, Snow City, Water World, and a boating house — spread over 12 acres at the Palace Grounds. <br /><br />Sabharwal claimed that none of the parks was housed in permanent structures.“These are essentially temporary structures built with iron rods,” he told Deccan Herald. “We have used nuts and bolts in the construction and decorated the structures that resemble permanent ones. But, they can be removed without much effort,” he said.That is to say, it did not face the risk of demolition as announced by the government.</p>.<p><br /> The company claimed that it had been paying more than Rs 40 lakh towards entertainment, property and other taxes. It got the building plan of each amusement park approved by the Directorate of Town and Country Planning. The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike alone is paid nearly Rs 6.5 lakh annually. The entertainment tax runs into Rs 20 lakh. “We are not depriving the government of its revenue,” Sabharwal said.The firm says it gets its licence renewed every year, but business is “not very encouraging”.</p>.<p><br /> “We do business only for five months. There is no business during monsoon,” Sabharwal said. According to Sabharwal, the firm which employs nearly 300 families, was not served any notice with regard to the ban. “We learnt it only through the media. Once we get any notice, we’ll decide a suitable course of action,” he said.</p>
