Amritsar, July 17
After much delay, the Saragari Multistory Parking Complex has been eventually opened for public for parking of vehicles.
Construction of the parking lot, that was planned to have seven levels, seems to be going on at a snail’s pace and till now merely three levels are ready. In view of the large-scale parking problems of visitors coming to Harmandar Sahib, the district authorities have decided to open it with the existing three levels.
The remaining construction will go on side by side.
It is pertinent to note that lakhs of tourists visit Harmandar Sahib daily and with plenty of them coming on their own vehicles, the area either is clogged with traffic or commuters have to move at a snail’s pace.
And to tackle the problem, the Government had started a multistory Saragali parking lot in the area.
But the project, which took off few years back and was to be completed in 2007, has already hit a delay.
As per the project, the parking lot with three levels ready is able to accommodate 800 cars but with the completion of seven levels, it would be able to accommodate nearly 2,000 cars and 5,000 two wheelers.
It may be mentioned that the Rs 36 crore project has been sponsored by the Central Government under the Galiara Project.
Once completed, it can serve as a major decongestant for the area hit by traffic jams.
The second phase of the Amritsar Elevated Road is scheduled to be merged into this parking to provide hassle free journey and parking to tourists visiting Harmandar Sahib.
It may be mentioned that the traffic situation in the area is poor. Many a times, plans had been made to make the area traffic-free but nothing could be done for reasons best known to the authorities.
And this has resulted in chaos in the area. The traffic problem is not only in the area around Chowk Phuwara but also outside Jallianwala Bagh, where vehicles get clogged at times. The visitors park their vehicles on the roadside making things worse. Social activist Parminder Singh feels, “This parking is useful but the government should keep the parking rate minimal so that even the daily visitors can park vehicles in this parking.”
Other experts also believe that there is a need for shop keepers in the Katra Jaimal Singh area to park vehicles in this parking lot to make the area congestion free.
