No record of vehicles stolen from parking lots, says MC

Rajinder Nagarkoti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 31

The Chandigarh Municipal Corporation does not have a record of the number of vehicles stolen from paid parking lots across the city in the past five years.

This has been stated by the MC in a reply to BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi, who had asked, “How many vehicles have been stolen from paid parking lots in the past five years? Kindly provide the details”.

In its reply, the MC said, “No such record is available with the corporation. The issue relates to the Chandigarh Police”. The reply will come up for discussion in the coming MC House meeting, scheduled for September 8. Besides, the MC also does not have readily available records of complaints received against parking contractors in the past five years.

The councillor had asked, “How many complaints were received against the paid parking lot contractors in the past five years? Kindly provide detailed data-wise information and action being taken against them”.

In its reply, the MC said, “Collection of data about complaints received during the past five years will take time and information will be supplied after it is complied.”

No provision for women staff in parking lots

The MC, in its reply, also stated that it had not made any provision for women staff in paid parking lots. The BJP councillor had asked whether or not the MC had made any provision for deputing women staff in paid parking lots.

Posters dot parking rate display board

A visit to the Sector 17 parking lot revealed that on the display board of parking rates, posters have been pasted due to which the parking rates are not visible to commuters. Besides, the name of the contractor, who was allotted the parking lot, has also been removed from the board. In its reply, the MC has stated that the issue of display boards is dealt with by the MC Engineering Wing.

Vigilance probe

The Vigilance probe into overcharging and other violations by the paid parking lot contractor of Elante Mall had recommended departmental action against four MC officials, including former MC Additional Commissioner Sarita Malik. The UT Vigilance Department, in its inquiry report submitted to the UT Adviser Vijay Kumar Dev, had recommended suitable departmental action against former MC Additional Commissioner Sarita Malik, Enforcement Superintendent Kashmira Singh, Inspector (Enforcement Staff) Sunil Kumar and Sub-Inspector (Enforcement Staff) Darshan Pal Singh.