Seven years on, PGIMER’s ₹63-cr multi-level parking project hanging fire
PGIMER, Chandigarh, officials say delay in environmental clearance & the outbreak of the Covid pandemic behind slow pace of its multi-level parking
It has been seven years since the finance committee of the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) approved the second multi-level car parking near the institute’s new outpatient department (OPD), but the project is yet to commence.
The authorities said the institute is working on getting environmental clearances from the UT administration since 2021, adding that the same, added with the outbreak of the Covid pandemic, have been behind the delay.
Speaking about the delays, PGIMER deputy director (administration), Kumar Gaurav Dhawan, “Contractors were appointed to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) and the parking design. After getting approvals for the construction, the project slowed down due to Covid.”
“In 2021, the UT administration said that it is mandatory to take environmental clearances, which were not required earlier. Since then, we have been waiting for the same. We are expecting to get either clearances or a go ahead without clearances, in a month,” he added.
As per the ₹63-crore project plan approved in 2015, the new multi-level parking would constitute seven floors, plus a basement in around 26,000 sq metres of land, with each of the floors having a parking space for nearly 80 cars.
The total parking capacity of the building was calculated at around 680 cars, which institute authorities believe would help in reducing the traffic congestion and ending the parking woes to a great extent.
Once completed, the multi-level parking would be the biggest parking facility at the institute as the already existing three-storey parking facility opposite the new out-patient department (OPD), has the parking capacity of nearly 600 cars.
The institute had also decided to construct a common pathway between the new OPD and seven-storey parking, for direct access to the OPD building.
Project to be completed by 2023
PGIMER’s newly-appointed director, Dr Vivek Lal, had also taken up the matter with the Union health ministry in a recently conducted meeting.
“We are trying to speed the process and we are expecting environmental clearance soon. We will soon float the tenders while the construction is expected to start after monsoons. The project will be completed by the end of 2023,” Lal said.
Parking woes remain
On an average, around 10,000 patients visit the PGIMER’s campus daily. Over 12,000 vehicles enter the premises on every day basis, but with limited parking, visitors and even the staff members are often left stranded.
In absence of sufficient parking space, people mostly park their vehicles on the inside roads, inconveniencing others.
“During the peak hours of OPD (8am to 10 am), it takes over half an hour to park the vehicle. Sometimes, we have to park the vehicle in the parking lot of the research block, a distance which takes 15 minutes to cover on foot. If we park the cars on roads, it often gets towed away by private firms, who demand at least ₹500”, said Gurvinder Singh, a patient.