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TTMC - a case of total misuse of JNNURM funds
Written By murali772 - 4 May, 2010
Bangalore Infrastructure governance BMTC JNNURM TTMC Media Reports Others Traffic
The Jayanagar TTMC was built with a swanky futuristic look but all what’s within is huge empty spaces and leaking walls and roofs. Almost close to completing a year now, all the promises are still on paper. Apart from the busy bus service in the basement, there’s been no progress within. A quick survey of the entire building reveals nothing more than empty spaces, unfinished structures and poor quality of construction. Even the flooring and electrical wiring have not been completed. The walls and beams have already given in to the recent rain. The unfinished wiring works on the first and second floors are now seen soaked.
At a time when there is serious shortage of parking space, this TTMC has a huge park and ride provision on the terrace with a capacity of nearly 110 cars. The original idea behind it was that people could drive in, park their cars/ two-wheelers and board their bus. But, with no lifts ready yet, people are forced to walk the entire ramp up and down to park and ride. According to locals here, weekdays hardly see even 10-15 cars parked here. Even on weekends, the numbers hardly touch 20.
Constructed at a cost of Rs 12.9 crore, this building was completed in July 2009 and declared open within a month. According to the plan, the TTMC was to house a multi-level parking lot, mini-shopping centres, food courts, BangaloreOne kiosks and ATMs among others.
NURM’s condition for the project is that these TTMCs must be a public space and not for commercial purposes. However, with no proper response from the RTO and the commercial tax offices yet to set up their counters here yet, little is known about the plight of the incomplete first and second floors at this TTMC.
Admits Jayanagar MLA B N Vijayakumar: “The main purpose is complete as of now. There could be some relief with a parking shelter above. Improper planning of space utilization here has a majority of the building still unused”.
There is a plan for at least 10 Traffic and Transport Management Centres (TTMCs) for the city, under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). But the very first TTMC built at Jayanagar 4th Block sees persistently leaking roofs and walls in less than a year.
For the full report in the TOI, click here
Here is a recent pictures of the massive Koramangala TTMC, under construction
And, the comparatively smaller Domlur TTMC
So, when the year-old Jayanagar TTMC has still to find takers for its huge empty spaces, what is going to be the fate of these newer ones?
The TTMCs would perhaps rank as the biggest misuse of JNNURM funds in the state, while simultaneously causing the biggest uglyfication of the city-scape. The chief architects - the minister, Mr R Ashoka, and the person who perhaps conceived this plan, the erstwhile BMTC, MD, Mr U Tripathy, both need special recognition.
Muralidhar Rao
COMMENTS
no JnNURM? what about engineering?
srinidhi - 4 October, 2014 - 12:48
All the rest of the TTMC's had the funding from JnNURM rt? Is this one different?
One of major issues with the TTMC's built earlier is the total lack of good engineered entry and exit points to the main roads. This has added to the total failure of these monolithic structures..
Guess they will never learn..or better, they dont want to learn!
xs400 - 5 October, 2014 - 07:03
<WARNING: no useful information below :-) >
There are endless debates on all forums about how to fix this or that, whether it is a flooded city or flooded flyovers or expressway or how to generate electricity to run a train using solar panels.
Engineering has been forgotten - even the Romans knew how to prevent roads from getting flooded and so did we. We have progressed beyond that. Now, no there is no civil engineer who can build a bridge or road left. Welcome to the new field of WILFUL-MISENGINEERING. This has great future potential.
Starts with a small introduction to wilful misgovernance and specializes into various distinct areas, there are even specializations such as wall misbuilding so they collapse on pedestrians killing them, saving family planning funds. And would you like to build a flyover, so confusing people die just using it, another family planning first!
We seriously need to start Dewarding our misengineers and recognize their contribution to society. A permanent fund needs to be "set up" for this - we can suggest some person-tage of the JnNURM funds for this Ignoble cause.
<end of rant>
Limca award for number of white elephants created
murali772 - 24 February, 2017 - 11:17
While planning this bus terminus in Peenya, KSRTC didn’t follow the three cardinal rules: location, location, location. It spent Rs 40 cr, a colossal waste of taxpayer money as few commuters use it.
- - - KSRTC’s hopes of earning even the rent from commercial space leased out have been dashed due to poor response from the public.
The KSRTC, in 2014, had started bus services from Basaveshwara Bus Stand to cities and towns in northern parts of the state like Hubballi, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Haveri, Belgavi and other destinations. The KSRTC had started 140-odd bus services from the bus stand after shifting the services from Majestic Bus Stand.
However, within a few days of shifting the services, the KSRTC incurred a huge loss as there were no takers for services Basaveshwara Bus Stand after the services were shifted there from Majestic. There were various reasons why KSRTC failed to get the patronage from the general public. One of the prominent ones is that the existing bus stand is not very close to Tumakuru Road with passengers having to shell out additional money to commute from Majestic or other points to reach the destination. Even now, passengers prefer to board the buses by waiting on Tumakuru Road at designated points rather than go to Basaveshwara Bus Stand, which is about 800 metres inside.
On the other hand, shifting of the bus service had benefited private operators who were operating from Majestic areas. Considering these points, and the huge losses it incurred, the KSRTC finally decided to restore the services to Majestic.
- - - Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy said, “The previous government had sanctioned the project without applying the mind.
For the full text of the report (emphasis added by me) in the Bangalore Mirror, click here.
This government is no better, as brought out in my post of 3rd Oct, '14 (scroll above to check), as also here, where the talk is about the newly appointed Chairman wanting to build a super-speciality hospital, even as the Corporations are hard put to carry on their regular operations.
This is the same KSRTC about whose Limca record for number of awards won (check here), the CM has been tom-tomming to the world.
In my post of 6th March, '14 (scroll above to check), I had stated "Can there be a more compelling argument for divesting the ownership of the infrastructure from the operator, while also bringing in more competition in the operations from the private sector?" The question gains even more significance by the hour.
Meanwhile, perhaps the government could be nominated for a Limca award for maximum number of white elephants created.
Vasanthkumar Mysoremath - 24 February, 2017 - 15:41
Namaskhaara Muraliyavare.
I like it.
Here is a Praja link from the year 2013 (I hope it has not been moved) on the very subject of use of funds under JnNURM. I have personally visited a number of TTMC concrete monstrous, carbon spewing, so called commuter friendly facilities and found them miserably failing with 9.5 out of 10. :
http://praja.in/en/blog/vasanthkumar-mysoremath/2013/03/05/enough-volvos-use-jnnurm-fund-rs14883-crores-sustainable-aff
and its follow up hits from Prajas, for whatever it is worth and....?
KSRTC/BMTC charter of demands, vision and mission statements that prescribe their fundamental responsibility of providing speedy, economical and clean development management in public transport ; but these have been totally neglected and these two monolithic public service entities have become real estate developers with public money ploughed through JnNURM funding for creating commercial complexes for the use of certain vested interests. They must understand that buses do not run on upper floors but on roads and cater to the needs and requirements of the ordinary folks who want to commute to their work places on time and get back home on time. They come to the bus stations to board a clean and economic bus and not for picknicking or shopping. Instead of providing commuters good sheltered bus stops, running of clean and efficient public transport, KSRTC/BMTC have siphoned off JnNURM funds under the guise of TTMCs that are idling and are adding to the losses of the monolithic public transport system..
Vasanthkumar Mysoremath.
murali772 - 3 October, 2014 - 14:07
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