BDA plans to use multi-level parking site commercially

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, December 11

The Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) is planning to use the multi-storey parking site located on the Mall Road for commercial purpose. Now, the MCB plans to construct the parking lot on fire brigade building in the city. This project will cost around Rs 20 crore.

As per the plan, the BDA will transfer money to the MCB for the constructing the multi-storey parking project on the fire brigade building.

BDA chief administrator-cum-Municipal commissioner Sanyam Aggarwal said, “We are starting the work on the multi-storey parking project on the fire brigade building and the present site of the project on Mall Road will be used for commercial purpose by the BDA.”

He said the work on the project would start within a month.

Mayor Balwant Rai Nath said, “We have made a plan to construct a complex on the multi-storey parking site on government elementary school land and sell the shops there. The BDA will transfer the money to the MCB with which we will construct the parking lot on the fire brigade building.”

In 2013, the plan to construct multi-storey parking on the fire brigade building was prepared and even Darashaw Company was roped in as consultant for the project. The company had also prepared a report, but from a long time, the project is hanging fire.

Later, a new multi-storey parking project was prepared under which the BDA had got the land vacated from the school under the optimum use of vacant government land (OUVGL) scheme for the parking project.

Ahead of Assembly elections last year, Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal laid the foundation stone, but the work on the project has not started till date.

Commuters are facing problems due to lack of parking space in the city and this multi-level parking project was expected to provide great relief to the residents.

In absence of adequate parking space, commuters park their vehicles on the footpath on Mall Road and other areas, leaving no space for the pedestrians to walk.