A parking lot in Chandigarh. Express Photo by Jaipal SinghThe Chandigarh Municipal Corporation served show cause notices to several parking supervisors for issuing manual parking slips to motorists instead of using the automated handheld devices in parking lots.
As per the Detail Project Report (DPR) on parking lots, according to which parking contracts were allotted, the issuance of parking slips through automated handheld devices was mandatory. Firms, which have such devices, can only claim parking contracts.
Sources said, “Show cause notice were issued after getting feedback from general public, who expressed apprehension of spread of Covid-19 infections through manually issued parking slips.” The manual slips were being issued at the parking lots in Sector 34, 35 and 42, among others.
MC Joint Commissioner Sorabh Kumar Arora said, “We received feedback about the manually issued parking slips when the lockdown was withdrawn in Chandigarh. We acted upon it strongly. The MC issued show cause notices against the parking contractors who were not using the handheld devices. The notices were issued in recent weeks. We are making efforts to make the process of issuance of parking slips completely contactless. It will be a complicated process but we will take up the matter with the companies which have parking contracts in Chandigarh.”
The city residents have also been raising concerns over the process through which parking slips are issued by handheld automated devices.
Sandeep Kumar of Sector 27 said, “Automated handheld devices are centralised equipment connected with the MC and the parking contractor companies, but it is not a full-proof mechanism in view of Covid-19. Parking employees pull the slip from the machine and hand it over to customers. There is also no other option to pay parking fee through online applications etc.”
Ruchi Aggarwal, a private employee in Sector 8, said, “The virus is spreading rapidly through each passing day. In the departmental stores,
shopping complexes, people have choices to make payment through mobile application online but we do not have this option at parking lots. Authorities should develop a mechanism.”
In January, the Chandigarh civic body selected two companies including one from Bihar and another from Delhi for running at least 89 paid parking lots across Chandigarh. The parking lots were divided in two zones, Zone 1 with 32 parking lots and Zone 2 with 57 parking lots.
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