BMC cracks down on illegal parking lots

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Bhubaneswar: Following complaints by the public about illegal parking lots which claim to operate with the permission of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), the civic authority Friday started cracking down on those behind illegal business.
In a tweet June 5, Asim Kumar Jena, a resident here, alleged that he received a fake ticket when he parked his car near Style Shoes at Janpath. Jena said the receipt he got for parking had fake BMC credentials and had no serial number.
“I had parked my car at a market spot in Janpath when a guy asked me for parking fee. On demanding a receipt he gave me a slip which appeared to be fake as it neither had serial number or ‘place of parking’. I had just come from Rupali Square and had a genuine receipt. Both the slips looked completely different,” Jena said.
“On seeing the difference in the slips, I asked for tender papers and any sort of paper that proved that the fee collection was legal. This angered the man and he said his seniors have it. However, after 10 minutes of arguments, he said this is the way it has been for the past five years, and that’s how they have been operating,” he added.
Meanwhile, the BMC Friday filed an FIR against the unauthorised collection of parking fees in front of the Reliance Mall near the city railway station as it was found that the parking lot never belonged to the civic body.
The FIR has also requested the police to take action against the person, who was collecting parking fees illegally from the public.
BMC’s Ward Supervisor of South East Zone, Debi Prasad Dash, filed an FIR with Kharvel Nagar Police Friday after directions from the Deputy Commissioner (Revenue), Prabir Kumar Khillar.
In the FIR, the Ward Supervisor said that the person was illegally collecting parking fees.
He left the place after seeing a BMC vehicle approaching. However, the BMC’s actions didn’t satisfy Sukanti Chand who said that the “move doesn’t eliminate the parking mafia.”