Faridabad: Parking lot inaugurated in January, yet to be made operational
Bijendra Ahlawat
Faridabad, May 26
The city’s maiden multi-level automated parking facility was inaugurated four months ago, but the authorities have failed to make it operational, owing to technical and administrative issues.
Claimed to be the first state-of-the-art parking facility in the city, the project was launched in May 2022 and was initially expected to be ready by January 2023. However, the alleged lack of funds and technical issues delayed the project by one year.
The Faridabad Smart City Limited (FSCL) built the project at a cost of Rs 16.73 crore under the Smart City project. While the construction cost has been around Rs 13 crore, an amount of Rs 3.5 crore has been earmarked for operation and maintenance for a period of five years. The then Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar formally inaugurated it on January 24.
Issues to be taken up after elections
Issues, including parking charges and its mode of operation, were likely to be taken up after the culmination of the election process to make the facility operational. — Anand Sharma, HSVP Administrator
According to the officials, the automated parking facility will be able to accommodate around 100 vehicles at a time. It was brought up near the Old Faridabad market to cater to visitors to the market and neighboring areas, which are facing an acute shortage of parking space.
The authorities are yet to finalise parking rates and other conditions associated with the work of outsourcing operations, said an official on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, a similar project, which was conceived in 2018, for the Mini-Secretariat in Sector 12 here has been scrapped. All the tenders released for the project on PPP mode failed to get any response, claim sources in the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP), which had been expected to execute it.
Factors like the economic viability, lack of vision and coordination on the part of the authorities allegedly acted as hurdles for the execution of the project.
It is estimated that over 1,000 vehicles are parked on roads or in open spaces due to the lack of a regulated parking space. It is causing immense inconvenience to employees and visitors to the Mini-Secretariat and the district judicial complex in Sector 12.
HSVP Administrator Anand Sharma said issues, including parking charges and its mode of operation, were likely to be taken up after the culmination of the election process to make the facility operational.
