New Delhi: The AAP targeted the BJP-ruled South MCD on Wednesday, a day after a portion of an automated multilevel parking facility inaugurated by the civic body in Green Park last year collapsed.
The MCD and the BJP have brought embarrassment to the people of Delhi with the incident, AAP chief spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj said.
"The BJP and the MCD have embarrassed the entire Delhi. I want to ask South Delhi Municipal Corporation authorities and BJP leaders if they had conducted safety and structural audits of the 17-floor building," he said at a press conference.
According to officials of the SDMC, an electrically operated floor plate of the tower number 3 on the eighth floor of the parking facility collapsed on Tuesday evening due to a technical glitch.
The AAP leader also alleged that the parking facility was inaugurated in a hurry twice by two central ministers.
"It was first inaugurated hurriedly by Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri in January 2020 just before the Delhi Assembly elections. It was again inaugurated by another central minister, R K Singh, and Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal in November 2020," Bhardwaj said. AAP leader and Kalkaji MLA Atishi said it was a clear case of corruption in the SDMC.
"They built a 17-floor parking facility with an expenditure of Rs 18-19 crore and that falls within a year. Does the building have a life of one year only? It is clear evidence of corruption by the civic body," she alleged.
The 17-floor multilevel automatic parking near Green Park Metro station was inaugurated in November 2020 where 136 cars, including 32 SUVs, can be parked. It was built on an 878 square metre (sqm) plot and the project cost was around Rs 18 crore.
Car park up & running again
Significantly, while the accident was a minor one with no loss of life or property, SDMC officials on Wednesday said they had finished the required repairs on the parking lot and that it was now functioning smoothly.
SDMC officials explained that the automated multi-level parking had been fully functional since its inauguration last November. The operation and maintenance of the entire parking facility are with the same agency that constructed the parking lot, they said.
Even though there was routine upkeep and maintenance, an empty floor plate in Tower number 3 was displaced and struck with a lift during the servicing. It fell down taking two other empty floor plates (the platform on which car rests) with it.
Officials said that SDMC's technical team reached the parking lot and made the facility operational again and also began their technical probe into how this accident could have occurred. Mayor Mukesh Suryan had ordered a probe in the case as soon as it was
reported.