Make public parking affordable: Residents

Tribune News Service

Manmeet Singh Gill

Amritsar, February 2

While most designated paid parking spaces in the city are not being properly utilised, the haphazardly parked vehicles on roadsides are one of the reasons for traffic chaos in the city. The residents stated that the high fee charged by the parking contractors is the reason why people do not use parking spaces.

In the city, most designated parking spaces charge anything between Rs 30 to Rs 50 for parking a four-wheeler. A resident Jagtar Singh said, “These parking lots are leased out to private parking contractors at hefty amount. Instead of thinking of these parking spaces as an avenue for generating money, the purpose should be to clear the mess on city roads.”

Another resident Sewak Singh said, “The city needs a parking system on the pattern of Chandigarh where the parking fee for a four-wheeler is fixed at Rs 14.” He said the parking attendants are often seen with two separate ticket books. “I happened to see these with one mentioning a parking fee of Rs 30 and the other mentioning Rs 50. This is done to extract more money from people who are from outside the city,” he added.

The residents also suggested that making paid parking spaces affordable would encourage more people to use these facilities. “There is a need to regulate the parking business. At government hospitals here, one can get an OPD slip for Rs 10 but has to pay Rs 20 for parking a vehicle,” said another resident Ankur Sharma. He said most commercial buildings do not have a parking area and people use the road to park their vehicles. The residents demanded that action should also be taken against institutions which have not created parking space as per the law.

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