The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Nod for private consortium to develop multi-level parking facility

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Wednesday, Jan 28, 2009
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Nod for private consortium to develop multi-level parking facility

Staff Reporter

It will come up on Wallace Garden First Street near Apollo Hospitals

— Photo: M. Karunakaran

IN SESSION: Chennai Corporation councillors debate various civic issues at the Ripon Building in Chennai on Tuesday.

CHENNAI: After a heated debate, the Chennai Corporation Council passed a resolution allowing a private consortium to develop the multi-level parking facility proposed in Wallace Garden First Street near Apollo Hospitals off Greams Road.

The private consortium formed by Apollo Hospitals Enterprises Limited and Marg Limited will design, build and operate the facility for 18 years. The project would be developed in two years from the time of awarding the contract. The project cost is estimated to be about Rs. 50 crore.

M. Jayaraman, PMK floor leader, expressed concern about allowing a private body to operate the facility for 18 years. The facility could get stuck with one agency or institution.

“In the past, it has been difficult to recover Corporation property after it is used by private parties for a long time,” he said.

The PMK councillor also said that the facility would be mainly used for the parking needs of a private hospital as there were few other big establishments in the locality.

Saidai P. Ravi, Congress floor leader, said the royalty fee that the private consortium had agreed to pay to the Corporation must be collected at the beginning of the year. “This would ensure that the contractor would not default on payment,” he said.

The private consortium has offered to pay Rs. 46 lakh a year as royalty fee to the civic body. The fee would be increased by five per cent every year for 18 years. The proposed multi-level parking facility would have space to park 200 cars and 290 two-wheelers. The civic agency has earmarked 26,878 square feet land for the facility. The multi-level parking lot can also have commercial and retail development up to a maximum of 1.5 times the plot area but should have separate parking slots for the commercial establishments.

Mayor M. Subramanian said the facility would be transferred to the Corporation after 18 years and the royalty fee would be collected at the beginning of the year. Rent from the commercial space would go to the consortium.

Parking fees

The Corporation has fixed the parking fees at Rs.20 for cars for the first hour of parking, Rs.30 for two hours, Rs.40 for three hours and Rs.50 for more than three hours. Similarly, two-wheeler parking would cost Rs.5 for the first hour, Rs.10 for two hours, Rs.15 for three hours, Rs.20 for four hours and Rs.25 for five hours and more. Parking fees could be increased by five per cent every year but would have to be rounded off to the nearest multiple of five.

The Council also passed a resolution related to metered parking on streets. Bangalore-based firm Millennium Synergy Private Limited has offered to install parking meters and operate them in 12 locations across the city. It has offered to pay 11.5 per cent of monthly earnings from the parking fees to the Corporation.

A car-user can drop a Rs.5 coin into the meter and obtain a slip on which the entry time and vehicle number will be printed. The permit would have to be displayed prominently on the dashboard of the car so that the parking attendant can view it. Parking fee for two hours is Rs.10 and for three hours Rs. 15.

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