Stone laid twice, multi-storey parking project in Palampur yet to come up

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, July 31

A multi-storey parking project here has been hanging fire for the past 14 years.

The local civic body transferred eight kanals situated in the heart of the town to the Urban Development Department for the project in 2009. However, the land is still lying unused. The present market value of the land is over Rs 25 crore.

During a visit to Palampur last year, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur had announced that the state government would execute the project from the funds sanctioned by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

However, no headway

has been made and the

town continues to face

parking problems.

The foundation stone of the project was laid twice by former Chief Ministers Prem Kumar Dhumal and Virbhadra Singh on June 8, 2008, and in 2014. The government had announced that it would construct the project under the private-public partnership (PPP) model, but the project has failed to take off.

Information gathered by The Tribune reveals that earlier the project was allotted to a Gurgaon-based builder and an MoU was also signed, but in the past 14 years, not even a brick has been laid. Later in 2020, the state government also cancelled the MoU.

Ashish Butail, local MLA, said the Chief Minister should fulfil his commitment made with the people of Palampur. The state government should immediately begin the construction. He said he had taken up the issue with the state government several times in past five years but no headway had been made .

There has seen manifold increase in the number of vehicles. Over 6,000 to 8,000 vehicles are added to the town and its adjoining areas every month. With an increase in the number of vehicles, the parking space available is getting squeezed, causing inconvenience to the people. At present, there is a provision for the parking of 150 vehicles.

Residents, students, businessmen and tourists have no alternative but to park vehicles in the no-parking zones. The conduct of the traffic police has attracted criticism as they can be seen chasing vehicles and imposing a fine without listening to the grievances of commuters.

Land already transferred

• 8 kanals in the heart of the town transferred for the project. However, the land is still lying unused
• The present market value of the land is over Rs 25 crore

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