METROSCAPE
Tall Tale
It's Bangalore's tallest building. It's owned
by the Bangalore City Corporation (BCC). And it's also a crying shame. The Public Utility
Building on M.G. Road houses a cinema and three restaurants; 12 floors are occupied by
various state government departments ranging from the traffic police to forest; and it has
more than 100 tenants whose businesses range from textile showrooms to banks and gift and
music shops.And because of outdated clauses and an
element of subsidy, tenants pay ridiculous amounts as rent. For water, they collectively
pay Rs 1.60 lakh a year, against an actual water bill of almost Rs 30 lakh, which the BCC
pays up. It also gets less than half the monthly electricity it pays out of over Rs 4
lakh.
 In an area where commercial space rentals go for Rs 5,000-7,000 a sq ft, some pay
as little as Rs 20-50 a month.
Tenants in the 20-year-old building, though, say they won't
pay a rupee more until faulty lifts are fixed, generators installed and fire safety
devices checked. Any move to raise rent is blocked at the courts. The matter is assuming
some urgency as the local revenue officer recently suggested putting the loss-making
building up for sale.
That's something BCC Deputy Commissioner (East) A.
Krishnappa is trying to counter. "We realise the building can generate a lot of money
for us," he admits. "But the first thing we're going to do is carry out some
urgent repairs before revising our tariffs."
It's either that, or bust.
-- Stephen David |
