North becomes Mecca of parking mafias
8 Oct 2012 8:15 AM IST
North Delhi Municipal Corporation [NDMC] has become the mecca of parking mafias. They have, in fact, become so fearless that such an illegal parking lot is being operated right under the Corporation’s nose, hardly 200 m from the Civic Centre, the headquarter of the civic bodies, and adjuscent to the boundary wall of zonal office of city zone.
Of the 115 parking sites of NDMC, 40 are un-allotted but parking is operational at almost all sites. Further, besides covering more than double areas allotted for parking, these mafias, in connivance with officers, have foiled the recent efforts of the corporation to re-auction alloted sites by pitching dummy bidders and paying over six-year-old rates to the corporation, simultaneously fleecing the public.
Hardly 200 m from the Civic Centre is tempo parking site, opposite Delhi Stock Exchange [DSE], and one can notice over 100 tempos and small trucks parked here at any time. This site is un-allotted as per the records of the corporation. The parking mafias use the entire stretch in front of the DSE, which is also visible from the windows of the civic centre. No action has ever been taken against the contractor pocketing the money by allowing parking on this site.
Two other such un-allotted parking sites also fall in city zone [Old Delhi]- Jama Masji Gate No 1 and Jama Masjid Gate No 3. The maximum, 14, unallotted sites fall in Civil Lines area followed by 11 in Karol Bagh and 10 in Rohini Zone. Surprisingly, North DMC does not have even a single parking site in entire Outer Delhi, Narela Zone. However areas such as Mundka, Burari, Narela Mandi, Alipur and several markets fall in this region.
MODUS OPERANDI
The city corporations are struggling to find ways to increase their revenue to tackle the financial crisis but officials are hell bent to make holes in their move. Millennium Post, in its investigation, found that the parking mafias in North area have learnt to ‘abort’ the efforts of corporation to auction its parking sites on higher cost.
The working of the mafias could be well understood by the example of parking in one of the prominent sites in the city- Ram Lila Ground. The contract for this site was allotted to a contractor at Rs 2.20 lakh per month for two years in 2009, which expired on 8 July 2011. Accordingly, a fresh tender was called for the site, for which nine contractors applied. The highest bidder, R K Jha, had quoted Rs 6.66 lakh per month. After completing the process, the highest bidder was issued an offer letter, but he did not appear. The officers then allowed the old contractor to continue on the site at the rate of Rs 2.20 per month. According to sources, the winner of the contract was actually a dummy candidate fielded by the present contractor. Thus the corporation is incurring a loss of around Rs 4.4 lakh per month and has lost over Rs 66 revenue only on this parking contract. Similar is the case of Dangal Maidan parking site, where Rs 6,66,666 was the highest bid by K L Duggal against the present amount of Rs 1.8 lakh. Here also, the highest bidder did not appear and the parking was continued with the earlier contractor.
The second highest bidder, L Singh, had offered Rs 4.96,988 lakh but was never called. So far, NDMC has lost Rs 72 lakh from this site also.
These two cases are just the tip of the iceberg of the multi-billion parking scam in the city. Millennium Post has in possession the documents that reveal that the contract of several parking sites expired but was never re-auctioned. The list inlcludes Jheel Prasad Nagar, Gurudwara Road and Saraswati Nagar.
Of the 115 parking sites of NDMC, 40 are un-allotted but parking is operational at almost all sites. Further, besides covering more than double areas allotted for parking, these mafias, in connivance with officers, have foiled the recent efforts of the corporation to re-auction alloted sites by pitching dummy bidders and paying over six-year-old rates to the corporation, simultaneously fleecing the public.
Hardly 200 m from the Civic Centre is tempo parking site, opposite Delhi Stock Exchange [DSE], and one can notice over 100 tempos and small trucks parked here at any time. This site is un-allotted as per the records of the corporation. The parking mafias use the entire stretch in front of the DSE, which is also visible from the windows of the civic centre. No action has ever been taken against the contractor pocketing the money by allowing parking on this site.
Two other such un-allotted parking sites also fall in city zone [Old Delhi]- Jama Masji Gate No 1 and Jama Masjid Gate No 3. The maximum, 14, unallotted sites fall in Civil Lines area followed by 11 in Karol Bagh and 10 in Rohini Zone. Surprisingly, North DMC does not have even a single parking site in entire Outer Delhi, Narela Zone. However areas such as Mundka, Burari, Narela Mandi, Alipur and several markets fall in this region.
MODUS OPERANDI
The city corporations are struggling to find ways to increase their revenue to tackle the financial crisis but officials are hell bent to make holes in their move. Millennium Post, in its investigation, found that the parking mafias in North area have learnt to ‘abort’ the efforts of corporation to auction its parking sites on higher cost.
The working of the mafias could be well understood by the example of parking in one of the prominent sites in the city- Ram Lila Ground. The contract for this site was allotted to a contractor at Rs 2.20 lakh per month for two years in 2009, which expired on 8 July 2011. Accordingly, a fresh tender was called for the site, for which nine contractors applied. The highest bidder, R K Jha, had quoted Rs 6.66 lakh per month. After completing the process, the highest bidder was issued an offer letter, but he did not appear. The officers then allowed the old contractor to continue on the site at the rate of Rs 2.20 per month. According to sources, the winner of the contract was actually a dummy candidate fielded by the present contractor. Thus the corporation is incurring a loss of around Rs 4.4 lakh per month and has lost over Rs 66 revenue only on this parking contract. Similar is the case of Dangal Maidan parking site, where Rs 6,66,666 was the highest bid by K L Duggal against the present amount of Rs 1.8 lakh. Here also, the highest bidder did not appear and the parking was continued with the earlier contractor.
The second highest bidder, L Singh, had offered Rs 4.96,988 lakh but was never called. So far, NDMC has lost Rs 72 lakh from this site also.
These two cases are just the tip of the iceberg of the multi-billion parking scam in the city. Millennium Post has in possession the documents that reveal that the contract of several parking sites expired but was never re-auctioned. The list inlcludes Jheel Prasad Nagar, Gurudwara Road and Saraswati Nagar.
Next Story
