Paid parking on Nehru Shopping Complex premises remains underutilised

Paid parking inside the multi-storey parking lot of the Nehru Shopping Complex remains underutilised while an open-to-sky free parking area remains choked with four wheelers throughout the day. It leads to congestion, gridlocks, frequent traffic snarls and frustrates vehicle drivers.

Navkiran Singh, a visitor, said high parking tariff was the prime reason prompting drivers to ignore designated parking facility in the complex. He said, “Parking lot operator charges fee up to Rs 50 for a four-wheeler, which discourages people from using the multi-storey lot. However, regular visitors are charged Rs 30 for parking their cars. For two-wheelers parking charge are Rs 20.”

Residents have demanded that the authorities reconsider the fee structure to encourage visitors to use the multi-storey parking facility. They demanded that the authorities should fix parking fee at Rs 20 for four-wheelers and Rs 10 for two-wheelers.

A shopkeeper drawing attention to haphazardly parked vehicles in the free parking lot of the complex said, “Majority of people leave the complex after parking their vehicles on its premises. In case of any emergency like fire breakout there is no way for an ambulance or fire tender to reach the spot.”

Affordable multi-storey parking lot in Nehru Shopping Complex could help in solving the problem of parking of vehicles along busy Lawrence Road and adjoining stretches. However, a visit to the paid multi-storey parking lot in Nehru Shopping Complex revealed that it was underutilised. Besides, dealers had dumped their junk in the parking lot of the complex.

Ashok Talwar, Chairman, Amritsar Improvement Trust, said, “The Trust has prepared a plan to install boom barriers in the open-to-sky parking area of the Nehru Shopping Complex to prevent outsiders from parking their vehicles in it. Outsiders will have to pay to park their vehicles in the complex.”