No end to parking woes at Nehru Shopping Complex in Amritsar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 25

The Nehru Shopping Complex, which houses several shops and showrooms, was built by the Amritsar Improvement Trust as a first of its kind strictly commercial complex in the city. The complex had double basement and terrace parking to accommodate 300 vehicles on approximately 1 lakh square feet of the built area. Despite the design and the parking facility offered by one of the busiest commercial areas, the Nehru Shopping Complex is among the worst parking areas in the city.

The irony is that the building was built to cater to the parking needs of the area. For people who have to come to Nehru Shopping Complex for even the minutest of jobs, it's a Herculean task to find a proper space and even if they do, the haphazard parking that most commuters have now become used to due to no check, makes it difficult to take the vehicle out safely. Prakash Singh, a local shopkeeper

Located at Lawrence Road, which is among the busiest commercial centres in the city, the complex houses several businesses and eateries. In addition to the basement parking, the complex also has a designed ground-level parking. Yet it has become notorious for chaotic and haphazard parking as the authorities concerned turn a blind eye to parking violations. The multi-level basement parking remains defunct, out of use, due to poor maintenance and awareness.

“The irony is that the building was built to cater to the parking needs of the area. For people who have to come to Nehru Shopping Complex for even the minutest of jobs, it’s a Herculean task to find a proper space and even if they do, the haphazard parking that most commuters have now become used to due to no check, makes it difficult to take the vehicle out safely,” shared Prakash Singh, a local shopkeeper.

Though the situation is similar in other commercial areas in the city as far as parking woes are concerned, Nehru Shopping Complex has over the years become worse. Another shop owner, who runs home furnishing business at the complex, said parking woes have now started discouraging visitors, affecting their business.

“They know for a fact that visiting this area would mean spending an additional half-an-hour to traffic and parking woes,” he said. Local eatery owners, too, have encroached upon the public space encouraging haphazard parking that disrupts smooth traffic movement in the vicinity. The fact that the complex is just a few meters away from the Novelty Chowk traffic lights, where traffic police personnel can be seen all day, is another example of the authorities concerned looking the other way.