Citizens pay up as LMC delays decision
LUCKNOWITES ENDED up paying extra for parking in several areas on Saturday. Though 21 parking contracts are on hold but contractors charged Rs 5 for two wheelers and Rs 10 for cars using old coupons with printed rates of Rs 2 for bicycles, Rs 3 for two-wheelers and Rs 5 for cars.
LUCKNOWITES ENDED up paying extra for parking in several areas on Saturday. Though 21 parking contracts are on hold but contractors charged Rs 5 for two wheelers and Rs 10 for cars using old coupons with printed rates of Rs 2 for bicycles, Rs 3 for two-wheelers and Rs 5 for cars.
A contractor at Hazratganj clarified, “We have no option. The LMC may finally clear the contract and when it does, the new prices will be taken to have been effective since April 1. We will be required to pay the higher commission as charged from April 1. The proposals for higher rates are just on hold, not cancelled, as of now.”
Heated arguments between citizens and contractors took place at several places in the city. However, parking lot attendants in areas where there is no proposal yet for any change in rates, too, charged the higher rates. Meanwhile, LMC officials said parking lot contractors of Hazratganj and Aminabad were not ready to concede their contracts and the issue was held up.
“What we are supposed to do when LMC is not able to finalise the tenders in time, why should we incur loss due to the lethargy of officials? We will keep on taking parking money from the public as the contract still belongs to us,” said a parking contractor in Aminabad. This year, the LMC got 237 tenders for 60 parking lots and 53 tehbazari sites in the city. But LMC officials are not able to take a final decision on 21 parking and 18 tehbazari tenders in the city because the tenders were of much lesser amount than expected.
“We cannot give contracts on lesser amount then last year. We will invite tenders again for 39 places and finalise these tenders on April 3. If we still fall short of the expected amount then we will think about giving these contracts to Poorva Sainik Kalyan Parishad or other security agencies,” said AMC Santosh Kumar.
He said, “If contractors are not interested in negotiations then we will not negotiate with them, but we will not accept any tender with a lower bid than last year.”