Parking in smart city
What’s a metro without parking problems? Chandigarh is no exception. Now we have it again that parking rates at the 25 official lots will double from November 18. A hike from Rs 5 t0 Rs 10 for cars and from Rs 2 to Rs 5 for motorcycles may not sound like much but the firm which bagged the contract for these parking lots has been cribbing that it has lost Rs 2 crore in the last four months as more than one lakh vehicles are parked in unauthorized zones every month. Enforcement of the hike was to begin from October but now it’s November 11.
Before the hike comes into force, parking in Chandigarh is to be made smart. There’s going to be an app for parking that can do wonderful things. Residents will get to know parking availability in real time and they can book a lot online. The municipal corporation has been tardy in converting the existing parking lots into smart ones and the contractor is not happy.
Why aren’t the vendors gone yet?
Sector 17 is the commercial area of Chandigarh. It is among the 58 no-vendor zones notified by the Chandigarh Administration. By virtue of this rule, street hawkers would have to vamoose from here. But as with previous such notifications, nothing has happened on the ground. Traders who operate posh outlets in Sector 17 are protesting that the vendors have not been kicked out yet. Who wants competition from vendors who hitch an umbrella, set up a table and hawk a minimal inventory all day and sell wares for discounted prices?
The latest last date
Happily, the number of rules the admin cannot really enforce does not end with parking and street vendors. The Chandigarh Administration has been unable to enforce its decision to replace diesel autos. It had brought in a rule that diesel auto rickshaws that had city registration numbers would have to convert to clean fuel by October 31. Now the deadline has been extended to November 30. Each such extension in the part inevitable came with the empty threat that no more extensions would be given. The auto drivers have heard it all before.
The big fatter Punjabi wedding
Really, what’s a big fat Punjabi wedding if doesn’t cost the earth? In the time-honoured tradition of making weddings ever more extravagant, the municipality here has decided to hike the fee for hosting weddings or family functions at 40 community centres in Chandigarh. The hike contemplated is 300 per cent! The good word will be out when the city fathers will declare their mind on October 30. Booking a category A community centre (air-conditioned with capacity of more than 400) will cost Rs 30,000 instead of Rs 10,000 now. Non-AC centres can be had for Rs10,000-20,000 depending on the capacity.
What have veggies got to do with inflation?
Parking rates and function hall fees aren’t the only things going up in Chandigarh. Vegetables and fruits have touched the roof and budgets have gone for a toss. Tomatoes are now Rs 50, onions Rs 36 per kg and apples Rs 100. That’s if you go to buy from the vegetable markets. But if you’d wait for the vendor on a rehri at your doorstep, that’s another Rs 5-10 extra. Despite all this, it really fills one’s stomach to know that inflation is down at less than 4 per cent.