The city government is planning to launch a crackdown on the illegal use of public space as commercial parking space, officials told The Express Tribune.
There are at least 70 illegal parking areas in the city, including public space used as parking facilities outside shops and plazas where tickets are charged. The use of private plots as ticketed parking areas, without permission from the District Office of Public Facilities (DOPF), is also illegal. Of 354 parking lots registered with the DOPF, 160 are active.
The DOPF will lodge FIRs against operators of illegal parking stands, said officials. They said that the office had tried before to stop them, but been pressed not to by “influential people”. They said that the abolition of illegal parking stands would strengthen the new Lahore Parking Company (LePark).
“We will not allow any illegal parking facilities in the city,” said District Officer (Public Facilities) Fahad Anees. He said that only the DOPF could allow a new parking stand to be created. He said that the owners of shops and plazas who were charging for the use of space on their premises as parking areas were breaking the law.
“Parking spaces or basements for parking are made according to the bylaws for construction. The designated parking space is for the use of the general public, not for any commercial activity.
The same goes for private plots. They cannot be turned into parking lots, where a fee is charged, without the sanction of the DOPF and the payment of the appropriate fees,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2012.
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