VMC forced to set up free parking lots

VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has started offering free parking to vehicle owners at the identified places in the city as there is poor response to its tender notification for auction of lots.     Of the 24 identified parking places in the city, only three have been allotted to contractors so far.Hence, the VMC decided to make parking at the identified places free for sometime and auction them later. It has set up Free Parking boards at several places in the city. The reason for the poor response to tenders is said to be high upset price fixed by the corporation. The parking fee for a two-wheeler is `5 and for a four-wheeler it is `20 for four hours. The contractors are apprehensive that many vehicle owners are not ready to pay a high parking fee.Among the identified parking places in the city, Canal road, Jaihind complex centre and Indira Gandhi Municipal Stadium are the busiest with revenue potential. The other places do not have much revenue potential. Considering the fact, contractors are reluctant to bid for the parking lots.  The maintenance of the parking places on MG Road that stretches from the old bus station to Benz Circle is difficult for a few staffers deployed by the contractors. Generally, very few owners keep their vehicles in the parking lots for the full four hours time set by the VMC. So the owners are not ready to pay the parking fee for four hours even if they park their vehicles in the lots for one or two hours.The VMC was of the view that its tender notification for auction of parking lots would get good response as the bidders could collect fee from 8 am to 8 pm everyday. Hence, it fixed a high upset price, which proved to be a major deterrent to bidders, said a contractor.