Indian Express 05.05.2010
Civic body earns Rs 3.4 cr in auction of paid parking lots
Express News Service Tags : parking, corporation Posted: Wednesday, May 05, 2010 at 0254 hrs
Chandigarh: The Municipal Corporation on Tuesday fetched revenue of Rs 3.43 crore by auctioning paid parking lots in various sectors of the city. The highest price was fetched by a parking lot in Sector 35 C that was auctioned for Rs 81 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 36.16 lakh.Of the 15 parking lots put up for auction, three found no takers. These include the parking lots near the Batra Theatre in Sector 37, a tourist bus parking in Manimajra and a parking lot near the district courts, Sector 17.
The parking lot in front of the Empire Store, Sector 17, sold for Rs 40 lakh against the reserve price of Rs 22.10 lakh. While the parking lot in zone I of Sector 8 was auctioned for Rs 39.25 lakh, the parking lot in front of Shanti Kunj, Sector 16, fetched Rs 2.85 lakh — the lowest at the auction—¿ against the reserve price of Rs 1.16 lakh.
The auction was held under the chairmanship of Joint Commissioner T P S Phoolka with councillors Pardeep Chhabra and Chander Mukhi Sharma and other officers.
Bidders demanded a change of site for the parking lot at the district courts that did not find takers. Officials said the bidders asked for the free parking sites adjoining to the paid parking lot to be included in this site.
With the auction of the parking lots, new parking guidelines would come into force. The civic body had recently approved a number of measures that were aimed at streamlining the parking situation in the city. These include provisions for imposing steep penalties for various violations.
According to the rules, the parking lot contractor has to deploy one attendant every 50 metres to ensure smooth parking. If the attendant is not present, a Rs 500 fine will be imposed henceforth. Tokens will be issued along with parking slips at the entrance to ensure that the vehicles are parked at the designated spots. The tokens will be collected by attendants who facilitate the parking.
The contractor will also have to submit a list of attendants to officials of the Municipal Corporation. Failure to do this would invite a fine of Rs 2,000.
Parking attendants and supervisors found not wearing uniforms or name plates will be fined Rs 500. Attendants will have to be present at the parking lot from 8 am to 12 midnigh— non-compliance will invite a fine of Rs 500. Non-installation of CCTV cameras will invite fine of Rs 5,000.
