Srinagar, Oct 12: Delay in inauguration of the much-awaited multi-level car parking at the erstwhile State Motor Garages (SMG) is taking heavy toll on commuters and local traders in Srinagar city.
The work on this project was completed long ago, but is yet to be thrown open for public in absence of inauguration.
Currently, the shoppers, commuters, employees, local traders and others find it hard to park their vehicle as there is no other convenient designated parking at this busy site.
An official said that authorities at Srinagar Development Authority (SDA) has sent a communication to the government about completion of work and requested its official inauguration so that it could be thrown open for the public. He added that there is no response so far.
The parking lot has been designed to cater to the rush of shoppers, employees and other people visiting city centre markets including Residency Road, Lambert Lane and offices.
Local traders said that with the inauguration of this designated parking, hundreds of people would get immediate relief who otherwise have to struggle for looking up space for parking.
“In absence of parking, shopkeepers and our customers are facing hardships. Besides it, hundreds of people would be benefited once the SMC car parking is made functional,” said a group of local traders of Residency Road and Regal Chowk market.
This car parking facility constructed by SDA and will accommodate 467 four-wheelers and 132 two-wheelers at a time.
“There is an urgent need for a designated car parking in the city centre as number of cars has increased manifold. Keeping this in view, speed of work on this project was increased and work was also carried out during night shifts on this project,” said an official.
The ramp-type parking has four floors and many features are likely to be added to make it a part of smart city project.
An official informed that this parking would charge reasonable rates from people. Coming up at a project cost of Rs 26.92 crore, four floors of the multi-level parking was constructed with the help off funding under Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), a centrally sponsored scheme aimed for developing city infrastructure.
SDA Vice Chairman Bashir Ahmad told Greater Kashmir that they are waiting for the response from government for its communication related to inauguration.
“There is so far no response from the government. We don’t know as of yet when it will be inaugurated,” he said while replying to a query.