Sophisticated parking lot has no users!

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, May 1: In order to ease traffic congestion in Guwahati a multi-level automated car parking facility has been constructed near Shraddanjali Kanan on RG Baruah Road with funds under special Plan assistance. This first of its kind parking lot in the Northeast keeps waiting for cars!

The capacity of this multilevel (ground+5) parking facility can hold at a time 302 four-wheelers and around 25 two-wheelers. This state-of-the-art parking facility was inaugurated by Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on October 17, 2017. Even as Guwahati is teeming with various types of cars and two-wheelers creating huge traffic snarl every day, this parking facility is seen almost with any cars being parked in it.

Why? The reasons seem to be many, right from site selection. The parking facility is very close to the State Zoo-cum-Botanical Garden that has a parking facility of its own. There are a few private business establishments that have their own parking facilities nearby. This apart, car users prefer to park near roads just by paying a meagre amount.  Even some people take the advantage of traffic personnel’s weakness and park their vehicles in no-parking zones in the city.

Talking to this reporter, a staff member of the multilevel parking facility said: “Most of car users want to ignore this parking facility. They may feel that this, being a sophisticated parking lot, is going to charge more parking fees. For four-wheelers, we charge Rs 15 for the first hour, and Rs 10 is added after every successive hour. For two-wheelers, we charge Rs 5 for the first hour, and keep on adding Rs 5 after every successive hour. However, most of the users of cars and two-wheelers opt to park their vehicles on roadsides.”