Ludhiana: Solve issue of roadside parking by hotel customers, HC tells MC

The Punjab and Haryana high court has directed the Punjab government and Ludhiana municipal corporation to come up with a solution for roadside parking by those frequenting hotels, resulting in chaos on the roads.

A high court bench of chief justice Sheel Nagu and justice Anil Kshetarpal was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL), pending since 2018, raising the issue of obstruction caused by vehicles parked next to hotels due to scarcity parking space.

The petitioner’s counsel, Sardavinder Goyal, had submitted that hundreds of hotels in the city have been constructed in violation of the building by-laws, misusing parking space needed for other commercial purposes, violation of FAR (construction of excess floors without the permission of the competent authority), excess coverage of stories, violation of standard design and violation of height norms. The counsel submitted that in many hotels, the construction has been found to be non-compoundable and strict action is needed.

The bench observed that the MC is an elected body and needs to perform its functions in accordance with the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act, 1976. “The Act itself contains sufficient provisions for the MC to discharge its statutory duties, failing which, the state on the other hand is competent to take coercive steps against MC in case it fails to perform its municipal duties,” the bench observed.

Posting the matter for January 15, the court directed that the MC and the state government come up with a proposal to resolve the situation.

“…both are directed to file a proposal as to what is the viable solution for the acute and long-standing problem of roads being occupied for parking in respect of people frequenting the hotels,” it said.