Daily Times

KARACHI: The District Municipal Corporation (DMC) South has taken over vehicle charged parking fee management of Boat Basin, Chase Mall, Park Towers, Gul Plaza, Empress Market and Bagh-Ibne-Qasim Clifton.

This has deprived of Karachi Metropolitan Corporation from an annual income of around Rs 125 million, officials of KMC Charged Parking Department has informed.

About 400 employees of this KMC Department would be affected and probably would be put on surplus pool, they maintained.

Meanwhile, KMC is in litigation with DMC South on two vehicle parking sites-Beach Park and Crystal Courts.

DMC South also is a claimant of charged parking rights of Paradise Centre, Sassi Arcade, Hyper Star and Dolman Mall, which are presently under the management of KMC Charged Parking Department.

In addition, DMC Central has also claimed the rights of parking fee of Fateh Bagh, Hydri Market, Geo Mobile F B Area, Anar Kali Bazaar Water Pump and Meena Bazaar Karimabad.

In a similar situation, DMC East has also asked for parking fee rights of Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society, Muhammad Ali Society, Patel Hospital and KDA Market Gulshan-e-Iqbal.

Currently 35 parking sites on 28 main road sites parking areas in the city are under control of KMC while parking site in front of A O Clinic Nazimabad block 4 has been closed on the direction of Mayor Karachi after raising an objection from Clinic.

Mukhtar Hussain, senior Director Charged Parking KMC was of the view that for the sake of due rights of every DMC, it has been decided that after October 1st , around 26 out of 35 vehicle parking sites in different parts of city would be handed over to three DMCs.

The Department has auctioned 35 sites for Rs 14.50 million to a private contractor and on June 1st , 2017 this would be the responsibility of the contractor to collect the parking fee, he informed.

“KMC is also on course to go to the court of law on matter of illegal car parking fee collection by a self proclaimed company on 18 parking sites in old city area and Saddar”, he maintained.

The Charged Parking Fee for a motorbike stands Rs 5, car Rs 20, pickup Rs 30, Mazda Coach Rs 50 and for a bus and truck it stands at Rs 100 respectively.

According to Sindh Local Government Act 2013, KMC and DMCs have been entrusted to collect charged car parking fee in their respective administrative areas in city.

Efforts are being taken to ensure no traffic jams during Ramzan and in this connection KMC and traffic police have vowed to take action against the mafia running illegal charged parking sites in the surroundings of markets and commercial centers across the city.

Steps taken to give away the charged parking control to different civic bodies in districts would ease administrative pressure and financial load on a single civic entity.

At present six Cantonment Boards, Pakistan Railway, Civil Aviation Authority, Karachi Port Trust, 6 DMCs, Citizen Police Liaison Committee, District Council, Gabo Pat Union Council and Carwash, a private firm is collecting parking fee on 35 roads and streets in old city area.