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Traders suffer as contractor fails to take possession of parking lot at Feroze Gandhi market
Members of the market association said that as many people visit the market on a daily basis, the parking lots have been abandoned by the civic body and contractor for three weeks now
As the Ludhiana municipal corporation (MC) has removed its staff from the parking lot at Feroze Gandhi market after awarding the contract, the parking contractor has failed to take possession of the lot citing low footfall and scarcity of funds.
Members of the market association said that as many people visit the market on a daily basis, the parking lots have been abandoned by the civic body and contractor for three weeks now. Due to this, visitors park on roadsides, leading to traffic snarls.
This has also forced the market association to deploy two of their staff members at the parking lot. The members said that the two staffers are unable to manage the entire parking lot.
The market association president, PS Gill, said, “The indifferent behavior of the MC authorities is taking a toll on the shopkeepers and the visitors in the market. If the contractor has failed to take possession, then the MC should continue managing it to avoid chaos. Visitors park their vehicles haphazardly which results in heated arguments.”
A trader Amanjot Singh said, “Due to the ongoing pandemic, the market is witnessing minimal footfall. But the visitors still face trouble in finding space to park their vehicles. The MC should manage lots till the time the contractor takes over as it becomes the duty of the civic body.”
The Finance and Contracts Committee (F and CC) of MC had approved the resolution to allot parking contracts for the Feroze Gandhi market and Sarabha Nagar block-I market on June 9 for ₹1.10 crore and ₹4.5 lakh respectively. Following this, the contractor was asked to take possession of the lot.
MC to cancel firm’s contract
MC Secretary, Neeraj Jain said, “The contractor has failed to take possession of the parking lots despite repeated reminders. Now a proposal has been forwarded to the F and CC of the MC to terminate the parking contracts and forfeit the earnest money submitted by the contractor. The final decision has to be taken by the F and CC. The MC cannot legally depute its staff at the lot as it has been allotted to a contractor.”
