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Spats over revised rates leave Ludhiana parking lots in disarray
Parking lots in Ludhiana wintness scenes of chaos, confusion, heated arguments and protests being witnessed over the freshly implemented bi-hourly rates for parking vehicles at these lots
Some of the most prominent and the busiest parking lots of the city are facing the ire of people with scenes of chaos, confusion, heated arguments and protests being witnessed over the freshly implemented bi-hourly rates for parking vehicles at these lots.
Various employees working in markets and offices near the parking lots, market associations and visitors were a harried lot on Wednesday as the monthly pass fees too have been revised.
Under the new system, the civic body has introduced a bi-hourly parking charge at lots, replacing the fixed ₹20 and ₹10 charges levied on cars and two wheelers respectively, for the entire day — 6 am to 10pm.
As per the new contract norms, the charge will increase by 50% of the base fee after the completion of every two hours. The base fee remains unchanged.
To add to the melee, the parking contractor at the Kipps market in Sarabha Nagar hired bouncers to keep the public at bay, which in turn resulted in more heated scenes and arguments throughout the day as visitors accused the bouncers of unruly behaviour. It was also alleged that the bouncers were fleecing the public.
A woman visitor at the Sarabha Nagar market who parked her vehicle said the bouncers misbehaved with her when she confronted them about overcharging.
Sarabha Nagar market association president Wong Chio said the new contractor has hired bouncers who misbehave with the visitors after asking them to pay unreasonable charges, adding, “The contractor is issuing arbitrary passes and forcing the business owners to pay as high as ₹5,000 for a monthly pass for their cars, the bouncers even threatened several people of damaging their vehicles,”
He said, “The new parking rates and hooliganism by the contractor’s men are affecting the reputation of the market and businesses.”
He alleged that the municipal authorities did not take the market association and other stakeholders into confidence before introducing the new policy, a charge that has been denied by the civic body officials.
Several employees and visitors at the Feroze Gandhi market and members of the Bharatiya Janata party also protested against the bi-hourly rates and hike in monthly pass fee.
The employees rued that the revised charges will put an extra burden on the pockets of over 8,000 employees who work in the market. Pankaj Kumar, who works at an insurance company, said, “There are many workers including pantry boys and security guards who earn less than ₹8,000 per month, paying the hikes free for parking their two-wheeler will put a great deal of pressure on them.”
He said that the parking lot lies in a sorry state with several potholes and water collected on the ground, and the contractor is also charging the people who have parked on the roadside and in front of their offices.
Feroze Gandhi market association Paramjit Singh Gill met MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal on Tuesday and submitted a memorandum demanding the MC take back the increased monthly pass charges for the employees and SCO owners.
MLA (Ludhiana west) Gurpreet Gogi, meanwhile, visited the Sarabha Nagar market and Feroze Gandhi markets in the evening and assured the protestors that the matter will be taken up with the municipal authorities in a meeting on Thursday. He also summoned the contractor on the spot at Sarabha nagar market after complaints by business owners regarding the unfair treatment meted out to them.
MC chief assures action
MC commissioner Shena Aggarwal said the complaints regarding unruly behaviour by the parking contractor are being looked into and they will be taking all necessary action against the contractor.
“The bihourly rates are to keep a check on people who pay just ₹10 or ₹20 and park their vehicles for long periods. For a person who normally comes to a market for some work, time would usually be less than two hours. And parking rates are the same for those. The new system controls parking space and ensures its effective implementation,” she said, adding that the hike in rates for passes will be looked into.
