No work initiated till date on multi-level parking project

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Tribune News Service

Bathinda, February 15

No work has been initiated on the multi-storey parking project, the foundation of which was laid by Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal ahead of the elections.

The Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) had planned to construct a multi-level parking at the site of the elementary school building on Mall Road at a cost of Rs 28 crore.

It had got the site vacated from the school under the Optimum Use of Vacant Government Land (OUVGL) scheme.

It has been learnt that only one contractor had applied for the tender of this project, due to which PUDA had put a stay on it.

A BDA official, on the condition of anonymity, said PUDA had to take a call on this and the work on the project would start only after the formation of government after March 11.

The multi-level parking project has been hanging fire for the last many years.

With the laying of the foundation stone by Harsimrat Badal in November last year, a hope sprang up.

In the absence of proper parking space in the city, residents are facing huge problems and have been demanding from the administration to start work on the project at the earliest.

Prof NK Gosain, a city resident, said despite the tall claims and planning of the administration about providing a proper parking system in the city, the residents are still facing problems.

In the absence of sufficient parking space, especially in the busy markets, people have started parking their vehicles on the roads, he added.

He also said the administration should not delay it further and start work on the project at the earliest.

Saksham Garg, another city resident, demanded that till the time the administration couldn’t arrange for proper parking space, it should stop the police from towing away vehicles.