Admn says no to free parking in city

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 27

The Chandigarh Administration has rejected the decision of the MC House to end the paid parking system and privatise it on the pattern of maintenance of roundabouts in the city.

The Administration has rather issued a notice to the MC under Sections 403 and 405 of the Municipal Act to reconsider its decision. The Administration wants to increase the paid parking charges in the city. Besides, it does not want to privatise the paid parking lots and to allow installation of advertisement hoardings in the parking lots.

The Administration had sent a note to the MC in this regard, which is now coming up for discussion in the MC House meeting on November 30.

In the last MC House meeting on October 29, it had unanimously rejected the agenda of increasing the paid parking charges in the city. It had resolved to end the paid parking system and privatise it on the pattern of maintenance of roundabouts in the city. It had also turned down a proposal for increasing the paid parking lots from 26 to 93 in the city.

The House had approved the recommendations of a five-member committee, formed to finalise the terms and conditions for the paid parking lots.

The panel, comprising councillors Pardeep Chhabra, Mukesh Bassi, Arun Sood, Saurabh Joshi and Maj Gen DS Sandhu (retd), at a meeting on September 30, had suggested that instead of giving the paid parking lots to contractors, the MC should hand these over to private companies. The private companies will deploy their staff and can display their advertisements on parking slips, barricades and the staff uniform. In return, the MC will get a revenue from the companies and people will be able to park their vehicles free of cost, the panel suggested.

What UT wants

• Start hourly parking system in proposed 93 parking lots in the city.
• For four-wheelers, parking charges will be Rs 10 for the first four hours and Rs 20 for up to eight hours. An amount of Rs 30 will be charged for parking a four-wheeler for up to 12 hours and for above 12 hours, Rs 40 will be charged. For two-wheelers, Rs 5 will be charged for the first four hours and Rs 10 for up to eight hours. For up to 12 hours, the MC will charge Rs 15 while Rs 20 will be charged if the facility is availed for above 12 hours.
• Besides, MC officials had also proposed to start e-ticketing at all paid parking lots in Chandigarh. Further, it was proposed to introduce smart cards, which would be recharged at e-Sampark centres, for paid parking.