Bengaluru: The BBMP’s plan to privatise the upkeep of the recently renovated Church Street hasn’t gone down well with everyone. The Forum for Urban Governance and Commons, Citizens for Bengaluru and several other organisations held a protest against the move at Church Street on Friday.
The tender called by the BBMP to privatise Church Street upkeep talks of appointment of 24/7 security guards, immediate eviction of street vendors and encroachments and making space for 50 advertisement hoardings. While the BBMP defends its decision, protestors claim it is hand in glove with the advertising mafia and is only trying to make money through from the now world class street, which received a makeover at a cost of Rs 15 crore.
Ms Tara Krishnamurthy of Citizens for Bengaluru said, “If you (BBMP) don’t have the capacity to provide basic amenities then build it. The BBMP can’t use public money to make profits. Why do they need security guards if there are 30 cameras monitored by the police on a regular basis?”
Mr Irfan Noor, Secretary of Church Street Occupants Association argued there was a law for street vendors and no one could go against it. “We don’t want privatisation, we just want the BBMP to maintain the road,” he said.
When contacted, Mayor Sampath Raj said the BBMP was outsourcing maintenance of Church Street as miscreants were damaging its expensive LED streetlights and hawkers were proving an inconvenience.
The Mayor added that the cobble stones used on the road needed to be cleaned in a specific manner using the right technology and this too could be done better by a private player.
“We will hold a meeting of all stakeholders, including the activists, vendors and shopowners within a week and take a decision on this,” he assured.
