MC prepares street parking plan, residents fume

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, April 25

The Municipal Corporation of Bathinda (MCB) is preparing its street parking plan under which streets will be kept free from the vehicles and if anybody parks a vehicle on the busy roads such as Ajit road, Bhagu Road and others, a penalty will be imposed on the violator.

Even now, parking vehicles outside your houses in an unplanned way can lead a person in trouble.

The civic body is soon implementing this policy to streamline the traffic problem in the city.

The MCB has made a plan to make joint parking spots and declare major roads and streets no parking zones to ensure smooth flow of traffic.

The parking arrangement for the Ajit road would be made at one spot on the 100-feet road.

The MCB has conducted a survey in the city to start paid parking at various places.

Under street parking, area-wise parking lots would be made where cars, instead of being parked outside the houses, would be parked in the paid authorised parking lots, where minimised charges on monthly basis would be charged from the car owner. Parking outside the houses on the street would not be allowed.

Residents have already started criticising the plan claiming that the civic body has failed to make multi-storey parking lots in the city in the past many years and now, it is planning to make parking lots in each and every colony.

“We wonder from where it would get huge land for parking lots for a high number of cars,” they added.

The state government has also announced to impose parking fee on the people parking their cars outside their houses on streets in 10 municipalities, including Bathinda, by August 31.

As per the policy, shopkeepers, office-goers and others need to park their vehicles in off-street parking facilities.

Parking rates would be applicable based on time, day, duration and size of the vehicle as larger vehicles will be charged more. The parking fee will be revised after every quarter.