The commissioner said that they will outsource the management of these lots to around 100 people who will work alongside 150 MC staff.THE REDUCED rates of parking will continue for another four months until the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation formulates and implements the new draft of the parking management. The new parking management will come into force only after the elections. The civic body plans to make up for the revenue deficit by converting all the 30 free parking lots into paid parking lots.
This point was discussed when the agenda of operation and management of 26 paid parking lots was taken up in the general house meeting on Friday. The meeting was adjourned for Friday after the house on Thursday night decided that parking rates be reduced from Rs 20 to Rs 10 for four-wheelers and Rs 10 to Rs 5 for two-wheelers.
Councillors stated that the draft of parking management given in the agenda didn’t have anything new and was just a copy of the previous one, which had various flaws. MC Commissioner K K Yadav said that a new draft will be formulated and councillors’ suggestions would be taken, till then the parking lots will be managed by their staff and some outsource staff.
Commissioner Yadav said that all the parking lots except those of Piccadily, Fun Republic Manimajra and Elante mall will be run from 8 am to 6 pm. These three parking lots will run in two shifts unlike other parking lots which will be managed only from 8 am to 6 pm.
250 people to run the lots
The commissioner said that they will outsource the management of these lots to around 100 people who will work alongside 150 MC staff. This system will go on until the new tenders are floated and companies come forward. “Before finalising the tender, the draft will be given to the councillors for their suggestions. As no contractor will come to manage the lots for just three to four months, we can manage the parking for eight to 10 hours. And we can ask the building and roads division to do that for four months,” he said. He said that the unpaid parking lots should also be added to the paid parkings for better zoning.
Congress councillor Devinder Singh Babla said that instead of giving the contract of management of all parking lots to one company, it should be divided into four zones and given accordingly. “At least, if one creates a problem, the entire parking system won’t get affected,” he said.
Smart features
BJP councillor Arun Sood emphasised the need for smart features. He stated that not many have read the parking agenda since they had not got it on time. Therefore, the civic body should ensure that the parking contract should be given to that company which can again provide smart features.
“Overcharging in the parking has remained a problem. Therefore, the civic body this time should ensure that the MoU signed with the company should be framed in such a way that they don’t face those problems,” Sood said. Councillor Davesh Moudgil said “city residents had high expectations from the smart parking but they were never implemented on ground”.
“MC should first ensure that the paid parking lots in the city are organised well. Free parking lots which are not getting managed should also be converted into paid parkings so that financial deficit can be covered,” Moudgil said. He suggested that the civic body should also rope in big traders who can be asked to give discount coupons to persons visiting the plaza on their cycles. Moudgil also suggested that this time the MoU should have a provision for imposing strict penalties.
