CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government has decided to introduce a uniform parking policy in the state, which may get implemented after the municipal elections in December. Through the policy, the government aims at easing traffic congestion as well as collect around Rs 2 crore per day as parking fees in 164 cities, sources said.
“The state government is planning to bring in a uniform parking policy for the state. The local municipalities will accordingly fix the parking rates and implement it,” said Principal Secretary, Punjab Local Bodies, Venu Prasad.
A committee, headed by Local Bodies Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu, was formed to prepare the policy, including that of the twin capital Chandigarh. Traffic Adviser to Punjab government, Navdeep Asija, has prepared a draft in this regard and submitted to Sidhu. The policy will now be placed before the state cabinet for clearance. It will initially be introduced in Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala and Mohali.
Sources said that following the cabinet approval, the government will carry out a survey on the traffic in each city and its density, number of vehicles parked at a given time at different parking lots, traffic pressure at particular points, number of two-wheelers, four-wheelers and heavy vehicles in different cities etc. Based on this study will be decided how much parking space is required at each point.
An official said that the parking fees will be charged on hourly basis and will vary depending on the category of vehicle. It will also be less in small cities and towns as compared to big cities.
Punjab has around 94 lakh registered vehicles, of which around 70 per cent are cars, SUVs and two-wheelers and rest are big vehicles such as buses, trucks and tractor trolleys. Topping the list of registered vehicles are Ludhiana (12.22 lakh), Jalandhar (8.48 lakh), Amritsar (7.50 lakh), and Patiala (4.70 lakh).