New parking lots find few takers

Guwahati

The near-empty parking lot at Chaggan Mal Sarawgi in Ganeshguri. Picture by Eastern Projections March 28 : The two newly inaugurated parking lots in the busy Ganeshguri and Chandmari areas have failed to draw vehicles, thanks to an old habit of city residents to opt for “easy” roadside parking. An official of the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) said very few people are parking their vehicles at the Chhagan Mal Sarawgi parking lot at Ganeshguri despite the facility not charging any parking fee. “The Chhagan Mal Sarawgi parking lot, measuring 1.3-bighas, can accommodate around 120 cars at a time. According to an estimate by the GMDA, hardly 20 to 30 vehicles are parked on a daily average in the parking lot since its inauguration on February 26. There were days when hardly 10 vehicles were parked,” the official said. According to the official, the parking lot at Chandmari, which was inaugurated on February 27, has also met a similar fate. He said barring a few two-wheelers, no four-wheelers have been parked at the lot since its inauguration. Around 60 vehicles can be accommodated at the parking lot at a time. “The development is quite surprising at a time when both Ganeshguri and Chandmari are witnessing massive traffic congestion because of haphazard roadside parking. More importantly, the parking lot is safer and can prevent incidents like a blast,” he said. All the three explosives-packed Maruti 800 cars went off in parking areas at Ganeshguri, Panbazar and the CJM court on October 30 last year. The impact of the serial blasts in terms of deaths and property damage could have been less if there were proper parking lots,” the official said. Dhiren Baruah, the president of Save Guwahati Build Guwahati, a voluntary organisation, said many city residents have developed an easy habit of parking their vehicles and do not want to make the extra effort to take their vehicles inside the parking lot. He said such a situation has only exposed the lack of civic sense among residents and this must be done away with. “The authorities must also take stern action against those who do not park their vehicles according to rules,” Baruah said. On the other hand, some residents of Chandmari have complained that the new parking lot is not properly manned. “The GMDA must engage its personnel to take care of the vehicles. It is not the fault of the drivers alone. City police have not taken steps to prevent roadside parking,” said Ramesh Sarma, a resident of the area.