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Ludhiana MC takes possession of three more parking lots
Earlier last month, the Ludhiana MC had taken over the possession of Sarabha Nagar main market and Tuition market in Model Town Extension after the contract period of two parking lots ended
The municipal corporation (MC) has taken over control of three more parking lots after the contracts of their private operators ended on Sunday.
The parking contracts of parking lots including multi-storey parking near Zone A office, Feroze Gandhi market and BRS Nagar orient cinema were scheduled to end in September.
Earlier last month, the MC had taken over the possession of Sarabha Nagar main market and Tuition market in Model Town Extension after the contract period of two parking lots ended.
However, within a few hours after private parking contracts ended, the civic body faced strong criticism from the opposition leaders, particularly from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The councillor from ward number 81, Sunita Rani, in a complaint to the MC commissioner said total chaos was witnessed at a parking lot in Feroze Gandhi Market as the civic body did not deploy the staff to manage the parking lot, adding that the MC employees remained missing from the parkings, while the vehicle lifters fled away with the motorcycle of one of her relatives.
Rani demanded that the MC authorities probe the dereliction of duty, which not only led to increasing vehicle thefts, but was also causing revenue loss to the MC exchequer.
Deepak Sharma, the councillor’s son, said his motorcycle was among the stolen vehicles, adding that he had also submitted a complaint regarding the same at Kochar Market police post and met the MC commissioner to seek action against the officials concerned.
Notably, a majority of staff/daily wagers employed by contractors were still seen deputed at the parking lots. The staff was also seen collecting the parking fee without issuing receipts to the visitors.
Speaking of the same, MC secretary TS Panchhi said the MC has taken over the possession of the lots and it would take a few days to arrange e-ticketing machines.
The civic body’s move is being seen as a reaction to contractors for issuing manual receipts instead of using the e-ticketing machines, which allowed for overcharging in the parking lots.
Suspense over re-auction of parking lots
The MC is also working to allot new contracts for the parking lots across the city.
After suspending the online auction of parking lots in the city held on August 3, however, the civic body has not taken any further decisions on auction.
The MC had earlier suspended the auction process citing technical issues. Sources, however, said the auction was suspended after a contractor tried to avail the contracts through cooperative societies, which are given certain privileges during allotment of contracts.
