Noida: In an attempt to encourage shoppers to visit Sector 18 market area, the Noida Authority on Friday decided that it will stop using cranes to tow away vehicles parked at undesignated spots.
Officials said that errant drivers will get challans and clamps might be used to lock vehicles parked at unauthorised spots. But their vehicles will not be towed away.
Shop owners, who have been demanding a more lenient parking policy, for the past six months welcomed the move.
The decision was taken at a meeting between shop owners and authority officials on Wednesday.
Cranes were introduced in the area on October 3 to encourage people to use the multi-level parking facility.
“We have stopped the use of cranes for now. The cranes are there in the market area but we will not use them for some time. Since there is a parking facility available (multi-level parking lot) in the locality, people should use that,” an official from Noida Authority said.
Since October, the authority has reduced the number of surface parking spots in the main market area of Sector 18. As against 45 spots for four-wheelers, there are 34 now. Two-wheeler parking points are also down to seven from 12. However, the move, according to shop owners, has resulted in less footfall as most customers want to park their vehicles closer to the shops they are visiting.
“The daily footfall before October was around 70,000 on an average. But it has dropped to about 30,000 now,” said Sushil Kumar Jain, president, Sector 18 Market Owners’ Association.
At the multi-level parking lot, the authority fixed a monthly fee of Rs 600 for four-wheelers and Rs 300 for bikes and scooters. While the fee for surface parking is Rs 50 for the first two hours for four-wheelers, it is Rs 20 for two hours at the multi-level parking lot. For bikes, the surface parking rate is Rs 25 for two hours and it is Rs 10 at the multi-level parking area.
“The move to tow away vehicles has discouraged several shoppers. The cranes come suddenly and there are bouncers on them. Visitors should also be given some time to remove their vehicles before towing them away. We have highlighted the areas from where vehicles are picked up frequently and asked the authority to introduce parking facilities in those places,” Jain said.
In another development, the authority has completed construction of 17 vending kiosks in the market area and officials said that they will start auctioning those from next month.