Shopkeepers seek early solution to parking woes

Kuldip Bhatia
Ludhiana, February 12

The chaos prevailing in the parking area of vehicles in the business hub of Feroze Gandhi Market (FGM) here was discussed at length by property owners with the Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, Kanwaljit Brar, in a meeting held on Tuesday in which suggestions were made by stakeholders to mitigate parking problems.

After termination of contract of the parking contractor for overcharging and other irregularities by the MC last month, no alternative arrangement was made and for the time being, the association of property owners is managing the parking of vehicles with its own manpower, albeit at a high cost and without any returns.

Col Harjap Singh, chairman and PS Gill, president of the Feroze Gandhi Market Property Owners Association, who led the delegation of property owners, said they had urged the MC to fix the rates of parking on an hourly basis — Rs 10 for two hours, Rs 30 for four hours, Rs 50 for eight hours and Rs 100 beyond — to check the tendency of the outsiders to park their vehicle for a nominal fee and leave it there for long.

The affected property owners further wanted the MC to prevail upon the managements of Nehru Sidhant Kendra and the ICICI Bank to ensure that their vehicles were parked within their own premises and not along the roads in the market.

“The passage to the mini-secretariat from within the market be closed since enough parking space is available in the multi-level parking in the DC Office Complex. The parking sites and area within the market be clearly marked, boom barriers be installed at all entry and exit points to regulate entry of vehicles and the system of separate entry and exit to and from the market be revived,” the property owners pleaded.

They also suggested that additional parking spaces around the market be created near the erstwhile Pali Dhaba, around Hotel A (old Grewalz), at vacant space between Nehru Sidhant Kendra, Canal Colony and in front of Park Plaza to facilitate the visiting public and bring some semblance of order in the parking of vehicles.