Renovation of MC's multilevel parking lot gets local bodies nod

Finally, the department of local bodies has approved the municipal corporation (MC's) resolution to spend Rs 8 crore on giving its multilevel parking lot near Mata Rani Chowk a facelift.

The civic body not only plans to make repairs, but also offer more to people using the facility by opening around a 100 shops in the building, besides eateries.

At present, the multilevel parking facility, which has a capacity for around 435 four-wheelers and 620 two-wheelers, wears a dilapidated look as the floors on all storeys are damaged, often causing damage to vehicles.

MC secretary Hartej Singh confirmed that the local bodies department's approval to the project and said further decisions will be taken soon.

The MC had made the proposal in its House meeting last year, when HT also highlighted that the mega parking lot, inaugurated in the year 2000, was literally in shambles.

Besides repairing the lights and the ramps, the civic body wants to make the parking facility safe for women to park their vehicles, even during the evenings. The MC is also mulling to install air conditioners in the building.

Officials of the civic body told HT that a restaurant on the top floor of the parking facility, which has been in bad shape of late, will also be renovated, besides lifts.

However, although the local bodies nod to the project is significant, yet now the civic body faces another hurdle: money. The cash-strapped MC has already been struggling to improve its financial condition.

Sources in the MC said a likely way out could be to utilise the Rs 15-20 lakh that the civic boy earns from recoveries of various sorts every day.

There have been myriad views in the MC regarding the uplift of the mega parking facility that could earn huge revenue for the civic body.

While the suggestion to open shops was provided by assistant commissioner Satwant Singh, others believe the parking lot should simply be privatised.

“With this MC can generate more income and the civic body would not need to deploy its own staff also,” an official, who chose not to be named, said.