Sector 17 parking charges to be hourly

Appearing on behalf of the civic body,senior lawyer Chetan Mittal today produced the affidavit. Mittal submitted that the MC has decided to charge on hourly basis to ensure that every entering vehicle leaves the parking lot in a time-bound manner. “However,the system will be started only after installation of fully automatic gates,which is necessary for ascertaining the exact time for entry and exit of every vehicle,” reads the affidavit.

It further states that “rates may be kept at variance in different parking lots to avoid rush in the parking lots near the plaza of Sector 17 during peak hours”. The MC has clearly submitted that at a meeting of the Finance and Contract Committee (F&CC) on April 12,it was decided that it “would not be feasible to withdraw the facility of parking from any designated parking lot in Sector 17 at this stage”. This was submitted in response to a proposal by the High Court to make Sector 17 a vehicle-free zone.

Enumerating the reasons to justify its decision,the MC has submitted that there is adequate space for pedestrians at this stage and that there is no alternative space available with the civic body where the vehicles can be accommodated in the event of closure of any of the parking lots. It has further submitted that once the “construction of multi-level parking is started at Gurdev Studio parking lot,the said parking will be out of use for approximately two years and that will certainly increase the pressure on nearby parkings”.