Parking plazas to get roof-top food courts

Mahmood says facilities will be specially-abled friendly

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi administration will lease out roofs of the planned parking plazas to food chains, mini cinema houses, gyms and other such ventures to generate revenue, said Rawalpindi Commissioner Muhammad Mahmood

Three new parking plazas will be constructed under the public-private partnership in the busy commercial areas of the city, he said.

Maps, financial models, and cost estimation of all parking plazas have been prepared and an investor conference will be held soon to initiate the work on these plazas, said Commissioner Mahmood addressing a meeting at his office to review progress on the parking plazas project on Thursday.

Along with it, he said, government will undertake projects to expand RDA Parking Plaza, Bani Market, Old Rawalpindi Metropolitan Corporation (RMC) office, and construct a parking plaza in the Commercial Market.

The construction period of all these plazas is around two years, he said. The parking facilities will be equipped with a computerised system that would give location of vehicles on each floor besides availability of space.

The plazas will also have mosques and a special parking lot will be retained for the disabled people.

He also said that this is the best use of government land as heavy monthly income will be generated from the rent of shops and restaurants in the plazas. The roofs of all parking plazas will also be used for commercial purposes and food courts, hotels and small cinemas will be built on them and citizens will have access to the roofs only by vehicles. He said that all the parking plazas would become a source of entertainment for the citizens.

The existing parking plazas are a source of income for the city. The development authority of Rawalpindi has auctioned two floors of the parking plaza built near Fawwara Chowk for two years for Rs30.2 million.

According to Rawalpindi Development Authority the contract has been awarded for two years, the contractor will be bound to pay 10 per cent more for the second year.

The Fawwara Chowk parking plaza is located at a prime intersection of the city with at least ten commercial markets, including Raja and Bara bazaars - among the largest markets in the city - located nearby.

The parking facilities are bound to end traffic mess in the garrison city. Senior Traffic Police Officer Syed Abid Abbas said that wrong parking was creating hurdles in smooth flow of traffic.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2020.