Traders' body seeks monitoring panel to curb overcharging at parking lots

Despite Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) orders, the municipal corporation (MC) has failed to form a monitoring committee to keep a check on fleecing of visitors and encroachments at the paid parking lots in the city.

As the MC is going to conduct the financial bid process for the various paid parking lots on Thursday, the members of Traders and Property Owners' Association of Feroze Gandhi market want MC to form monitoring committee, otherwise they will move HC once again.

The members claimed the MC should ensure that there should be no overcharging and encroachments on the roads by the contractors of the parking lots. Earlier, several cases of overcharging and encroachments by the previous contractor had been reported at the parking lots of Feroze Gandhi market, Sarabha Nagar, Ferozepur Road and others but the MC was allegedly soft towards the contractors.

Col (retired) Harjap Singh, chairman of Traders and Property Owners' Association, Feroze Gandhi market, said, "We will file a contempt petition with Punjab and Haryana high court as the monitoring committee hasn't been formed by the MC. Many complaints were filed against the previous contractors but the MC had failed to act against them in past. The monitoring committee is required to a keep vigil on the parking lots. We wanted MC to hand over the parking lot of Feroze Gandhi market to the association."

The MC is going to open the financial bid for the parking lots including multilevel parking lot near zone A building, parking lots on Ferozepur road, main market and block I market of Sarabha Nagar and Feroze Gandhi market.

Association's general secretary KS Monga said, "Even after three years of the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court, the MC has failed to for the monitoring committee. A meeting was organised soon after the directions but nothing was done. A station house officer and a superintendent of MC should also be the member of the monitoring committee but MC is not implementing the orders."

He claimed that the previous contractors used to charge fee from visitors who were asked to park on roads and pavements. The members said that the MC should form the monitoring committee so that the visitors should not face any harassment at the parking lots.

MC additional commissioner Rishipal Singh, who heads the tehbazari wing, said that the department would form the monitoring committee to keep a check on parking lots. He said that the MC would ensure that the contractors don't fleece the visitors at paid parking lots.