Hefty charges keep car owners away from parking complex

Kuldeep Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, April 14

There are no takers for the Rs 24.70 crore Sanjauli parking complex which was dedicated to the public by Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh on April 9.

Reason: The parking charges remain unaffordable to the common man.

A delegation of residents of Sanjauli led by councillor Sushant Kapret today informed Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh of the problem that had emerged from the parking-cum-shopping complex constructed on the PPP mode.

As per documents accessed by The Tribune, Tantia Sanjauli Parking is on lease for 40 years. It has offered parking to car with rates ranging from Rs 3,400 per month from 6 pm to 9 am and monthly parking for Rs 4,500 per vehicle, but both these rates exclude 12.36 per cent VAT charges.

The rates were even higher than the parking lots of international airport, resented Ajay Lotheta, a resident of Sanjauli.

“We met the CM and apprised him about the exorbitant rates that the private operator is charging and he was astonished to know about the rates”, said Kapret.

“The parking charges should not be more than Rs 30 per day for residents. Even if the old agreement is considered, the rate remains at Rs 120 per day which is very high and nobody can pay this”, he rued.

The residents demand that parking owner should bring down the parking rates to an affordable level. Second, the operator should target earning from 60 shops that he had built in the complex.

The residents demand that the yellow parking facility between Sanjauli and Gas Godown should continue. The parking lot owner has yet to offer reasonable rates and the complex can accommodate 250 vehicles whereas the yellow line parking accommodate close to 500 vehicles, they add.

The MC should not get Rs 90 lakh that it intends to get from the parking complex and disburse the amount to the public as the MC should not be the business partner, but its only aim is to create affordable civic amenities to the common man, said Vijay Chauhan, former councillor and Rajiv Bragta, a resident.

Shimla Mayor Sanjay Chauhan said they had taken up the matter with the CM and the corporation had written to the State Infrastructure Development Board, which has signed the agreement with the developer.