The Times of India                09.01.2014 

Nashik Municipal Corporation to reissue tenders for Dadasaheb Phalke memorial

NASHIK: The lack of response from agencies to take up maintenance of the Dadasaheb Phalke memorial has prompted the Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) to re-issue the tenders.

The civic body had floated tenders in December inviting private agencies to manage the memorial at the foothills of Pandavleni, eight kilometres from the city. But there were no takers. The NMC has once again invited tenders on Wednesday.

The private agency has to take care of the total maintenance and repair of the memorial, the garden and Buddha Vihar. The daily cleanliness will be done and the security will also be provided by the agency.

"We did not get a single tender for the maintenance and cleaning of the memorial and the gardens. We, therefore, had to re-invite tenders," said an NMC official. "The agency will have to maintain and clean the memorial and the Buddha Vihar and should also provide security. It will have to do all these by selling the entry tickets and parking fees. It will also have to pay some royalty to the NMC," said an NMC official.

The memorial on a sprawling lush green 29-acre land was inaugurated on November 30, 2001 in the memory of the Father of Indian Cinema Dadasaheb Phalke. But gradually the condition of the memorial began deteriorating and the number of visitors also reduced.

The NMC took the decision to hand over the maintenance to a private agency due to lack of manpower, which they felt was responsible for the poor maintenance.

"The memorial is in shambles because of lack of manpower. There are 48 employees to maintain the garden, 20 security people and five employees of the NMC," said an employee at the memorial said. "They are not sufficient," he said.