COIMBATORE: AS part of revenue-boosting measures, the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC) has planned to lease out the Multi-Level Car Parking (MLCP) facility in RS Puram to private players by handing over its operations to contractors.
The civic body has also planned to set up a new food court opposite the MLCP facility at a cost of Rs 1 crore to increase revenue. The state-of-the-art MLCP was built on DB Road under the Smart Cities Mission at a cost of Rs 41.67 crore. With each floor having a capacity of 80, a total of 320 cars can be parked at once on the four floors. Apart from that, 60 cars can be parked on the ground floor increasing the tally to 380 cars.
Despite being the first-of-its-kind facility in the city, the RS Puram MLCP has failed to attract the public. Sources said not even one-third of the total capacity of the facility is utilised as only a scanty number of cars are being parked here. Various reasons, such as the distance between the shops and the MLCP, unavailability of shuttle services and the time-consuming process to park the cars among others have been cited for the poor patronisation of the facility.
In view of this, the civic body has decided to hand over the facility to private players on a contract basis to run and maintain the facility. Currently, the corporation-run MLCP facility has been collecting about `3.5 to 4 lakh a month and is maintained by the CCMC on its own. In a bid to boost revenue and utilise the parking lot to its full potential, the CCMC has planned to invite a ‘Request for Proposal’ from private parties to tender the facility. The CCMC announced the decision in its annual budget for the financial year 2024-25.
Similarly, the CCMC has also announced its plan to build a food court with stalls opposite the MLCP to raise revenue. Earlier, the civic body had planned to build a two-wheeler parking lot on the available land, opposite the MLCP facility. But now, the plan has been changed by the CCMC.
Speaking to TNIE, CCMC Commissioner M Sivaguru Prabakaran said, “The plan to give the RS Puram MLCP facility to private players for operation and maintenance is to regulate the facility and the on-street and off-street parking in RS Puram. The parking fee at the facility will not be hiked after it’s given to a contractor. The civic body will fix the cost and that will be followed by the contractor. After building shops for the food court, we shall build a two-wheeler parking lot if any remaining land is available.”