Ad space: AAP targets BDA on pact with private firm

The Bangalore Development Authority’s (BDA) agreement with a private firm to display advertisement hoardings for a period of 30 years in exchange for maintaining an open space below the Hebbal flyover has raised eyebrows.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has accessed documents through the Right to Information (RTI), has suggested that only beneficiaries of kickbacks can pass such an order issued in 2018-19.

According to the documents released by AAP, the BDA has allotted 61,780 square feet of advertisement space to a firm called Avinashi Ads for 30 years.

In turn, the company is expected to maintain the garden and the open space below the flyover.

The officer who signed the agreement with the firm is now an additional chief secretary in the state government.

Permission ‘illegal’

K Mathai, former KAS officer and AAP’s state spokesperson, alleged that the permission given to Avinashi Ads is illegal.

“The place allotted to Avinashi Ads to install hoardings comes under the BBMP. The BDA does not have the authority to give permission, which is against the high court order,” Mathai said.

“The public-private partnership scheme must be used to provide essential infrastructure for the benefit of people. How can garden maintenance come under the PPP scheme?,” Mathai asked.

He also suspected irregularities on the part of the BDA and the BBMP, citing the two orders passed in 2018 and later in 2019.