Sector 17 multilevel parking lot: MC asked to pay Rs 1.5 crore to

of the multilevel parking lot in Sector 17. The agency had appealed for arbitration after delay was caused due to several roadblocks that hit the project.

Following this latest development,the MC might go in for an appeal against the order. Also,the civic body could now take up the construction of the multilevel parking lot on its own. “MC has been asked to pay Rs 1.5 crore to the agency. Discussions would now be held on appealing against the order. It is likely that MC may take up construction of the multilevel

parking lot on its own,” said Chief Engineer,Municipal Corporation,S S Bida.

It was in 2007 that the Municipal Corporation had approved the setting up of the multilevel parking lot in Sector 17 near Sahib Singh and Sons. The contract was awarded to a Delhi-based agency,Subhash Projects

and Marketing Limited (SPML),in the same year.

However,it was after three years that the site was finally

handed over to the agency. The agency refused to

start the construction thereafter,stating that during the

time that had lapsed,the cost of construction had gone up

and so the conditions needed to be changed. Their prominent

demand was that the concession period be increased

from seven years to 12 years. This was not agreed to by the MC.

SPML then went into arbitration,the proceedings for which went on for two more years. While the company sought Rs 49 crore as damages from the MC,the civic body sought damages

amounting to Rs 249 crore from SPML for causing loss of face with the project not taking off. The MC had also alleged that the money it had spent on consultation had gone waste.

The parking lot was to be constructed on a BOT (build-operate-transfer) basis. The first floor was to have a number of shops from which revenue was to be earned by the agency. However,delay was caused on several fronts. While the project was given the green signal in 2007,the plans for the same were approved by the architecture department

in 2009. When the construction was to be started,it was

found that high-tension electricity wires pass through the

area. Shifting of these wires took another year and the

site was handed over to the MC in 2010.

The parking lot in the sector was supposed to be

the pilot project after which similar parking lots were to be constructed in sectors 34,35 and 9. However,with the MC unable to come up even with the first parking lot,the

future of the remaining lots is uncertain.