Ramkrishan Upadhyay
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, April 15
A 90-page report of a panel of councillors, headed by former Mayor Rajbala Malk, has rejected the second hike in the parking rates, implemented on April 1 on the grounds that the company had failed to provide smart parking to residents.
The panel nailed the parking company by mentioning details of mismanagement at the lots during checking carried out over a week. Mayor Davesh Moudgil had formed the committee after residents opposed the hike in the parking rates.
The fee for parking a car for four hours has been increased from Rs 10 to Rs 20, up to six hours from Rs 20 to Rs 40 and for up to 12 hours from Rs 50 to Rs 100. The rates for two-wheelers have also been doubled. The rates were hiked within three months of the last hike.
Among other members of the committee were Gurbax Rawat, Anil Dubey, Farmila and Heera Negi. Four councillors were invited to assist the committee. Rajbala Malik, head of the committee, said haphazard parking was a norm at parking lots and several terms and conditions of the agreement had not been met.
She said it was nothing but cheating in the name of smart parking. The committee found that four-wheelers were parked in lanes meant for two-wheelers and manpower at a distance of 50 metres was missing. The required number of CCTV cameras had also not been installed at parking lots. The smart card-based payment system was also missing at many places. The committee attached supporting pictures of violations and mismanagement at the lots. The lots that were inspected included those at Elante Mall and Sector 22, 34, 35 and 21.
Most lots had similar shortcomings. At several places, there was no separate parking for the differently abled and women. In some places, only one or two people were managing the parking lots.
A member of the panel, Maheshinder Singh Sidhu, said they had submitted the report and it was now up to the House to take a final decision.
Firm threatens to move court
Sunil Badlani, director of the Mumbai-based Arya Toll Infra Limited, which has been given the parking contract, said the company had already invested over Rs 20 to Rs 22 crore in setting up the parking infrastructure in the city. He said if any injustice was done to them, they would have no option but to move court. He said the company suffered a loss in the initial period when the rates were only Rs 2 for two-wheelers and Rs 5 for four-wheelers.
fined Rs 33,000 FOR VIOLATIONS
The MC has imposed a penalty of Rs 33,000 on Arya Toll Infra Limited for violations in the terms and conditions of the contract. Sources said the penalty was imposed for 12 types of violations found during the checking carried out by teams constituted by the MC Commissioner.