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Smart parking project: Unable to see prospects of making profits, contractor flees
MC has forfeited earnest money of Rs 5 lakh and debarred contractor’s firm, Nirba Associates, from participating in any auction for parking lots in Chandigarh for the next two years
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A day after the smart parking project for 25 parking lots in Chandigarh hit rough weather, a contractor who was allotted contract for Idle Track Parking in Sector 26, at a cost of Rs 4 crore per year, has fled.
Nirba Associates, a firm based in Solan, Himachal Pradesh, was issued the contract in August. However, after depositing the earnest money of Rs 5 lakhs, the contractor refused to run the parking lot.
Sources said the contractor, Vijay Singh Thakur, surrendered his contract because the bid was very high and he felt he would suffer significant financial losses.
The civic body has now forfeited the earnest money of Rs 5 lakh and has debarred the firm from participating in any auction for parking lots in Chandigarh for the next two years.
Meanwhile, the civic body has also extended the contract of previous contractor Lalit Joshi till the time fresh auctions are conducted. Thakur could not be contacted for comments.
Mumbai-based firm fails to pay instalment
Besides Nirba Associates, Arya Toll Infra, a Mumbai-based firm, which bagged a contract worth Rs14.80 crore to run 26 parking lots for one year, also failed to deposit the second instalment on Thursday. The firm had promised city mayor Asha Kumari Jaswal that it will deposit Rs3.60 crore in two instalments, one of which was to be paid on Thursday.
MC sources said, Arya Toll Infra might also surrender its contract because it has been accusing the MC of not providing them adequate facilities, despite a promise to do so.
Speaking to Hindustan Times, Gurnam Singh, a former contractor of paid parking, said it is apparent that the firm is buying time as it is apprehensive about future prospects. Given the way things are moving, it will also surrender the contract soon.”
“From the first day itself, we have been saying that owing to space crunch, smart parking is not a viable option in Chandigarh. Parking problem can be solved only by constructing four multi-level parkings,” he said.
