The city Corporation’s first multilevel parking lot located inside the Corporation office premises, near Palayam, will become functional as soon as approval is received from the electrical inspectorate, according to officials of the civic body.
The opening of the parking lot was further delayed after the inspectorate said that fire exit stairs needed to be added to the structure. The construction of the same has been ongoing.
The multilevel parking lot had a formal inauguration in October last year, around a year after the construction had started under the Smart City projects.
The structure of the parking lot inside the Corporation premises was completed by December 2019. But the work on the fire safety equipment and testing had remained pending. The technicians from the Coimbatore-based company, which constructed the facility, were unable to travel to the city due to COVID-19, which further delayed its commissioning.
Automatic system
“We initially thought the parking lot could be opened by the last week of March. However, with the elections being declared, the other processes were further delayed. Earlier, the company officials expressed a doubt on whether a fire exit staircase is required, as no one is personally going up to the higher levels and the cars are lifted up and down using an automatic system. The Electrical Inspectorate is expected to accord clearance soon,” said a Corporation official.
With the upper floors being unusable, the ground floor has been made use of mostly for parking cars of Corporation officials. Visitors to the Corporation continue to park on either side of the road.
102 cars at a time
Across seven floors, the facility can accommodate 102 cars at a time. On swiping a card provided at the entry point, a ramp will arrive at the ground floor. The driver can leave the vehicle and exit the ramp.
Executed under the Central government’s Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme, the parking lot was completed at ₹5.64 crore.
Out of the construction cost, 50% was borne by the Corporation, 30% by the Centre and 20% by the State.
