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Chandigarh MC to run all 89 parking lots on its own for now
Parking contracts of both Zone 1 and 2 expired in January; Chandigarh MC to manage the lots till new agency is hired; parking fee to remain ₹14 for four -wheelers & ₹7 for two-wheelers
With the parking agreements with both contractors expiring, the municipal corporation on Monday decided to manage all 89 parking lots on its own from February 1 until a new agency is hired.
The parking fee will remain the same — ₹14 for four-wheelers and ₹7 for two-wheelers.
Parking lots in the city are divided into two zones – 32 in Zone 1 and 57 in Zone 2. In 2020, MC had auctioned both zones for three years for around ₹10 crore annually.
During Monday’s House meeting, the councillors outrightly rejected the proposal to extend the Zone 1 contract that will expire on January 31. The Zone 2 contract already got over on January 23 and parking at the 57 lots therein, including in Sectors 7, 8, 9, 17 and 22, and Sukhna Lake, has been free since.
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Lashing out at MC officials, councillors said they had been hearing about smart parking lots for years, but nothing had been done on ground. They also questioned why licence fee of ₹6 crore had not been recovered from Zone 2 contractor.
As per the civic body, licence fee of ₹6 crore, along with interest up to December 31, 2022, has not been paid by the contractor concerned.
Congress councillor Gurbax Rawat said, “Smart parking has existed only on paper. Also, MC first failed to recover around ₹4 crore from the previous contractor and now the current contractor has also defaulted on licence fee of ₹6 crore.”
BJP councillor Saurabh Joshi remarked that it was strange that MC officials did not float the new parking tenders despite the contracts expiring soon.
On the agenda proposing extension to Zone -1 contractor, he questioned why the parking agreement was not attached with the agenda. “How many violations have been made by the contractors and how much penalty has been imposed on them?” he asked.
On this, municipal commissioner Anindita Mitra said, “We have already issued notices to the contractor and will recover the dues through their assets.”
