Minister for Public Works P.A. Mohammed Riyas has sought a report after it emerged that the Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation had rented out the parking space along a PWD-owned road to a restaurant. The Corporation has deployed 225 traffic wardens to collect a nominal fee from the public for parking along the major roads in the city. However, a meeting of the Traffic Advisory Committee chaired by the Mayor had in June decided to rent out the parking space in front of a restaurant that started functioning recently opposite the Government Ayurveda College.
The Corporation also agreed into an agreement with the restaurant owner, as per which the civic body would be paid an amount of ₹5,000 per month for letting the restaurant use the space to park its customers' vehicles. However, the agreement became a controversy after the security staff appointed by the restaurant owners turned away non-customers who tried to park in the space allocated to the restaurant, which is actually part of a public road owned by the PWD.
The civic body is now being accused of renting out a space which was not even under its control. Questions have also been raised about the legality of an agreement which allocates a part of a public road to a private entity. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has said that it will move legally against the agreement.
An official press release issued from the Corporation on Sunday evening called the allegations baseless. Citing precedents, the Corporation officials have argued that spaces along public roads have been rented out to various entities since 2017. The money collected by the traffic wardens nor the monthly amount from the private entities are collected by the Corporation directly. These are remitted to a society formed for the traffic wardens, from which their monthly payment is provided for.
However, the private entity has no right to stop even non-customers from parking in these spaces nor cause any obstruction to pedestrians, as per the agreement. The Corporation would take actions, including cancellation of the agreement if these clauses are found to be violated, said the release.
