Unregulated JMC parking lots causing loss in tax revenue
NO CONTRACT The civic body has not awarded new contracts at 31 of its 46 parking lots
JAIPUR: Parking woes continue to be a hurdle in developing Jaipur as a smart city, with no official yearly or monthly parking contract provided to agencies operating 31 parking spots out of a total of 46, according to Jaipur Muni c i p a l C o r p o r a t i o n (JMC) data.
Several parking agencies operating t he parking l ots whose contracts have expired pay the JMC on a daily-basis and retain their positions.
With no formal contract in place, these parking lots are unregulated, and hence have no accountability in case of complains from the commuters.
Shopkeepers and visitors at markets complain of not only overcharged parking fee, but also of chaos caused by the unregulated parking spaces in several areas. Walled city area where smart roads are under construction seems to be the worst affected.
Parking agencies at Chaura Raasta and Johri Bazaar are irregular due to the lack of a yearly or monthly contract with the JMC. Other places where the official yearly contracts for parking have sti l l not been granted by the JMC include Gaurav Tower, Ganpati Plaza, Birla Temple, Ramniwas Bagh, Ghatgate, Atish Market and Ramlila Maidan.
These parking agencies are supposed to pay ₹17,812 per day to the Jaipur Municipal Corporation, which is included as the urban development tax of the city
hile ₹5 per hour is to be charged for parking two wheelers and ₹20 per hour for the four wheelers, users are concerned that the tickets are overpriced. Moreover, the time bracket of two hours has been specified by the JMC that no vehicle can be parked beyond the time limit in the walled city.
According to JMC data, several agencies provided with the contract are also defaulters in paying dues. With the parking contract forming a large part of the urban development tax, the JMC, which could not match the financial target for the financial year 2018- 19, i s l osing a big share.
The shopkeepers at the areas said that with the lack of regulated parking, Jaipur as a smart city seems to be a far-flung target. “Lack of regulated parking often causes a big problem to the commuters. Not only is this a big hit on the business but the traffic jams are also common due to unregulated parkings and encroachments arise due to it,” said Ashok Sonkhiya, a shopkeepers at Johri Bazaar.
Lakshman Das Morani, chairman of the license committee, JMC, said, “The regulation of parking in the city has become a big problem. We have initiated the process of giving the parking contract for nearly 31 areas along with three new areas including Moti Doongri, Sanganer and MI road on Monday,” he said.