Contractors Fleece Public For Parking
COIMBATORE:The contractor in charge of two-wheeler parking at the Singanallur bus stand here has taken over the area allotted to seat passengers, which has become a problem for those waiting to board buses.
They have to stand in the soaring heat even as the contractor, Namachivayam, so to say, is making ‘money’ while the sun shines. However, the corporation is not doing anything to help the passengers.
TNSTC Assistant Engineer Iqbal, who monitors affairs at the Singanallur bus stand, confirmed that the contractor is occupying space allotted for passengers to sit.
“The crowd will be more on auspicious days and during festivals. At such times, those who are going to Tiruchy suffer a lot as they have no place to sit,” he said.
Moreover, a secure cloakroom that the corporation had built to keep passengers’ luggage, has remained closed for years. Using the contract for it, four employees of the contractor have occupied it.
He pays the corporation Rs 2.1 lakh per annum as lease amount for the parking contract and Rs 50,000 for the safety-room contract.
A corporation official said they had asked the contractor to park two-wheelers without inconveniencing the passengers and the public. However, the contractor does not listen to them. “We have already fined him Rs 25,000 for collecting excess charges from motorists,” he added.
The East Zone Assistant Commissioner told Express that they have not received any complaints about excess charges being collected by the contractor in the last one-and-a-half months.
Things are not different at the Gandhipuram Town bus stand either, where too the contractor, A Venkatesh, is violating conditions set by the corporation. For one thing, he has not placed the tariff board at the entrance of the parking lot so that motorists can see the charges clearly.
It should have the contact number of the Corporation Assistant Commissioner also. However, the number cannot be seen on the board: the part of the board where the contact number is mentioned has been torn away.
Consumer activists and motorists have demanded that the corporation should take over the parking lots and not give them on contract. It should ensure that the parking lots function well and that motorists are not fleeced.