1. Home
2. Top Stories

Parking project at Parade hangs fire Under process at JMC, says HUD deptt; JMC denies it

VIKAS SHARMA. Dated: 6/1/2012 4:49:04 PM

JAMMU, May 31: Notwithstanding the grave problem of traffic chaos at Parade due to unauthorised parking of vehicles on and along the road stretch, a project for parking of idle vehicles at this point has been hanging fire since March 2011.
The project of Housing & Urban Development Department has not moved beyond a paper horse which, as per the department claims in a letter to the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, is under process at the level of Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC). Interestingly the helmsmen of JMC refute this claim.
As per the information available with Kashmir Times, the Deputy Secretary to Government, Chief Minister’s Secretariat had enquired from HUD department about the problem of parking at Parade, Jammu vide Letter No: PS/DS/RS/CM-F-01/2011 dated January 17, 2011.
The latter (HUD department) in its response after two months disclosed that necessary site plan of the project for parking of idle vehicles at Parade, Jammu had been prepared and the estimation of the same was under process at the level of JMC.
The text of the letter vide No HUD/Plan-69/2011 dated: March 10, 20111 by Joint Director (P&S), Housing and Urban Development Department on the subject “Problem of parking in Parade” to the Deputy Secretary to Government, Chief Minister’s Secretariat available with ‘Kashmir Times’ says, “Deputy Secretary to Government, Hon’ble Chief Minister’s Secretariat may kindly refer to his letter No:PS/DS/RS/CM-F-01/2011 dated 17-01-2011 regarding the subject cited above. In this connection, the undersigned is directed to intimate that necessary site plan of the project for ideal parking of vehicles at Parade, Jammu has been prepared and the estimation of the same is under process at the level of Jammu Municipal Corporation.”
However JMC Commissioner K L Khajuria, when contacted to know about the status of project, said that the development of parking lots in the city was the responsibility of Jammu Development Authority (JDA). “It’s the responsibility of JDA to construct new parking lots in the city. We have little role to play as far as development of parking lots is concerned,” he said.
In response to a question pertaining to parking of idle vehicles at Parade, he said, “This is an illegal parking lot and till date Jammu Municipal Corporation (JMC) has no project to develop and convert this illegal parking lot into regular parking slot.”
Meanwhile the traders in the area are suffering due to non-availability of regular parking lot as Rajinder Bali, a local trader in Parade area says, “Many a time, the deputations of traders from the Parade area called on Commissioner JMC and appealed him to regularize this idle vehicles parking area as it is lying vacant for past many years but to no avail. Since there is no parking slot from Parade to Shalamar Chownk, the conversion of this idle space into parking lot could have solved the problem of parking to some extent.”