Kolkata: Car parking mafias have taken over the parking space in the city’s central business district (CBD), especially the Burrabazar zone, and eating into KMC’s revenue. Several KMC councillors on Monday raised concerns about a parking racket operating in the CBD without much resistance either from the cops or the KMC parking department.
According to Vijay Ojha, the BJP councillor in Burrabazar, the racket was active in the entire business zone and have been fleecing the motorists. “The KMC car parking department has set a target of collecting Rs 30 crore in the current fiscal. But, the revenue could be much more if the civic brass can crack down on a parking raj in the CBD areas. The racket is eating into the parking revenue,” complained Ojha. According to the councillor, the agencies running the official parking lots in the Burrabazar area have been illegally parking cars on pavements.
A KMC car parking department official conceded that though the civic body has time and again conducted raids on illegal parking in CBD zones, they have yielded no results. “The contacts of the parking agencies in the Burrabazar area have deep-rooted contacts. They run the parking lots according to their whims. On several occasions, the attendants have been caught for demanding exorbitant parking fees from the motorists. But, the agencies have been spared from being punished,” said the civic official.
The civic body brass has asked the cops to keep a watch on car parking operations in the Burrabazar area. “We will need to conduct surprise visits to ensure that cars are not parked beyond the designated parking lots and the motorists are spared of paying an exorbitant amount,” said a KMC official.
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