LAHORE: Parking issues are becoming worse in the provincial capital, despite the contours of Lahore stretching and expanding the city. The issue exposes the negligence and indifference towards proper urban planning in the incumbent government’s development model.
To deal with the city’s parking issues, the previous Punjab government had formed the Lahore Parking Company (LePARK), a subsidiary of City District Government Lahore (CDGL). Despite the passage of many years since its inception, the company has failed to meet its objectives and provide the facilities expected of it.
According to company officials, LePARK operates around 180 parking lots in the city, including 6 parking plazas and six rotary parking.
All six rotary parking were situated at the Lahore Metro Bus service’s busiest stops to provide a modern parking facility for those who want to use the Metro bus while parking their vehicles.
All installed rotary parking at Ichra, DC Office, Mayo Hospital, Services Hospital and PIC are no longer functional.
Lahoris are already suffering under the woes of a non-functional Lahore Waste Management Company (LWMC), which has left unremoved heaps of garbage all around the city. The lack of proper parking space has added to citizens’ problems, leading to traffic jams and slower commutes.
Insiders told The Correspondent that the Punjab government might change the old contractors as the new PTI administration intends to launch the Izhar brothers rotary systems, which are locally manufactured. The old rotary parking was imported from China cost 100 million rupees in 2017.
Utilising local made rotary parking systems is a good policy. Still, the government’s premature measure of closing old rotary parking has led to the loss of millions of rupees and a traffic-jammed city, creating problems for citizens.
Sources also told The Correspondent that CM Punjab’s advisor, Dr Salman Shah, has already presented a proposal for closing down the Lahore Parking Company (LePARK).
Keeping with the general tradition of political enmity, most of the older projects started under the PML-N government have been either shut down or defunded. However, the Buzdar administration is yet to inaugurate any public service or developmental project.
