Farmers Movement Archive

3 years on, automated parking lots remain a distant dream in Amritsar

Tribune News ServiceAmritsar, November 17The multi-level automated parking lots proposed under the Smart City project seems to be a distant dream as the Amritsar Municipal Corporation has yet not finalised the tendering process. Eight months after revising the cost, a few vendors had shown interest for Kairon market multi-level car parking project.Senior officials of Amritsar Smart City Limited (ASCL) claimed that the financial bid would be opened soon and the tendering process would be completed within a month.The automated parking projects were announced by the ASCL in 2017. ASCL had first released a tender for design, operation and maintenance for 10 years of fully automated multi-level car parking facility at Kairon market on October 10, 2018.No vendor could fulfill the requirements of ASCL and the authorities failed to find a vendor later as well.According to information, there would be a total of seven floors (two underground) in the proposed Kairon market parking. The parking would facilitate several markets near Hall Bazaar and Katra Jaimal Singh.ASCL officials informed that there were a limited number of such multi-level automated parking lots in the country. Lack of space at Kairon market has proved to be a major hurdle in designing and implementation of the project. There are not many vendors who deal with such technology in the country.In February, the city-level Technical Committee revised the cost of multi-level car parking at Kairon market in a meeting held under the Smart City project. Earlier, the cost of the project was Rs 18.24 crore, which had been revised to Rs 32 crore.Apart from the Kairon market, ASCL also proposed a similar parking lot at Machhi Mandi. ASCL did not initiate its tendering process as officials were waiting to finalise the Kairon market project.Komal Mittal, CEO, ASCL-cum-MC Commissioner, said, “We will open financial bid for Kairon market multi-level car parking soon. After revising its cost to Rs 32 crore, we have bidders and a contract will be awarded within a month. Hopefully, the work will start in the next calendar year and it will take one year for completion. Later, we will start the tendering process for Machhi Mandi.”

The Tribune

2020-11-18