Dasara: stall construction works yet to gain pace

The works on the construction of the stalls for the ‘Dasara Exhibition’ at the Dasara Exhibition Grounds on Doddakere Maidana, in front of the Mysore Palace, is yet to speed up.

The contractor, who has been awarded the tender, seems to have failed to meet the deadline set by the district administration to commence the works on the stalls.

The district administration had issued a warning to the contractor to complete the works of erecting the stalls before September 20.

It had also directed him to begin the works on each stall before September 10. It may be mentioned that the
works on the stalls are delayed every year. So, the district administration had issued the warning.

Till date, out of the 35 government stalls, the works on only 16 of them has commenced. However, the officials claim that 80% of the stalls will be ready by September 19. The works of the remaining government stalls are yet to begin.

Karnataka Exhibition Authority (KEA) Chief Executive Officer N M Shashi Kumar said, Deputy Commissioner D Randeep has held three meetings and has instructed to complete the works before the stipulated time. Out of 35 stalls, the works on 16 stalls have begun, said the CEO, adding that the stalls will be ready by September 21.

This time, only a few government agencies, including, departments, boards and corporations have come forward to set up stalls and the response is poor compared to the previous years.

While, 14 state government departments, including Kannada and Culture, and Women and Child Welfare departments have agreed to set up stalls, two departments of the Union government, 16 corporations and boards and three zilla panchayats have submitted applications to open the stalls. As it is not mandatory for the ZPs to open the stalls, only a few ZPs have agreed to open stalls to display various programmes implemented in their respective districts. During the last Dasara, as many as 69 departments had opened stalls.

The Exhibition Grounds has 137 permanent stalls and as many as 400, including private stalls, would come up, said the CEO.

This year, the Dasara expo contract is awarded for Rs 6.66 crore and the contractor will collect vehicle parking and entry fee. In 2016, the KEA had collected the parking and entry fee, said Shashi Kumar.

DH News Service