RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi Municipal Corporation (RMC) will construct a parking plaza on its old offices land on Jinnah Road commonly known as City Saddar Road to end the parking issue in Raja Bazaar the main commercial hub of the city.

The 145-year-old RMC building was demolished in 2016 to level the plot.Earlier, the three kanals and 10 marla land was taken over by Punjab Revenue Board which tried to sell it but failed as no investor was ready to purchase the property. However, after the change of local government system in 2016, the land was handed back to RMC.

However, the RMC had shifted to its new offices in 2003 and the plot was left vacant.

The civic body then established public transport parking on the plot, and all public transport vehicles that plied from Fawara Chowk to other areas of the city were parked there.

A senior RMC official told Dawn that work had started on the multi-storey parking plaza a few yards away from the parking plaza of RDA atFawara Chowk.

He said the RMC appointed Nespak as consultant for the feasibility study which recommended construction of the five-storey building on the vacant land. He said under the initial plan, five-storey building, including basement, would be built.

`The ground floor will be utilised for shops and four floors and basement will be used for parking motorcycles and cars,` he said.

The official further said due to the rush in the main commercial hub of the city, there was a need to construct another parking plaza to cater to the needs of the people who visited markets in and around Raja Bazaar.

He said there were two pro-posals before the RMC build three floors for parking and two storeys for flats or construct three floors for parking and two floors for shops.

The official said traders in Raja Bazaar were not interested in nats therefore the RMC opted to allocate ground floor for shops.

When contacted, RMC Chief Municipal Officer Ali Imran said the civic body wanted to end the parking issue in city areas therefore it started work on constructing the parking plaza at Fawara Chowk.

`Land was lying vacant and we wanted to utilise it for the welfare of the people,` Mr Imran said, adding that the RMC would generate revenue from the parking of private vehicles and public transport.He said at present, public transporters parked their vehicles on the main roads which created traffic mess, adding that once the parking plaza was completed, the RMC would abolish the Suzuki and Rickshaw stands on the main roads of Raja Bazaar.

He said PC-I of the project was being prepared and input had been sought from the building department and private firms to get an estimate of the totalcosttobeincurred on the building. He said PC-I would be presented before the Divisional Development Working Party for approval.

`As per initial estimates, 4,200 motorcycles and 1,500 cars will be accommodated in the new parking plaza at a time,` he said.