Country’s first parking plaza inaugurated

[LahoreEstate]

By Irfan Aligi

KARACHI: The country’s first and multi-storied parking plaza was inaugurated in Saddar Town on Thursday.

Executive District Officer Transport and Communication Department Iftikhar Ali Qaimkhani said the CDGK has spent Rs 650 million on the establishment of the parking plaza, which has 11 floors with two basements. Out of these floors, seven would be used for parking purposes with the capacity to park around 700 cars and 500 motorcycles.

Qaimkhani claimed that the entire parking plaza was entirely computerised and has the capacity to keep a month’s complete record, which could be made available on a CD, if and when required.

he parking plaza has been equipped with a total of 96 close-circuit cameras with 10 cameras for each floor. The CDGK would start a shuttle service for parkers so that they could comfortably visit the shopping areas. Initially, the CDGK would charge Rs 20 as parking fee for the first three hours.

Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan inaugurated the CDGK Parking Plaza by purchasing a car-parking token, in an attempt to send a message across the board that the facility would not be used free of cost by anyone.On the occasion, the governor praised City Nazim Mustafa Kamal for his efforts and said that the nazim is a prime example of good governance.

In his address, the City Nazim S Mustafa Kamal said that the establishment of Pakistan’s first multi-storeyed parking plaza was done in lines with the requirements of the modern hour and it is synonymous to any parking plaza around the developed world as regards to provision of facilities and use of modern technology. The parking plaza is one of hundreds of other salient development projects in the city the City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has offered to the people of the city. The entire area has been converted into pedestrian and the passage of 28-km from Preedy Street to Toll Plaza has been rendered signal-free.

While in an attempt to manifest his firm resolve to keep going with the improvement of facilities in city, Kamal vowed that he has further planned to build more parking facilities in city, especially in Saddar Town, because this particular area plays a pivotal role in all sorts of activities including trade and economic.

In this regard, Kamal pointed out that the CDGK is concerned about Jahangir Park, which is being heavily encroached and if this were not stopped, the park would be gone soon. The CDGK has decided to build an underground multi-storeyed parking plaza while the Jahangir Park would be protected and improved as has been done before at Bagh-e-Ibn-e-Qasim in Clifton, he said.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp...09_pg12_10