ISLAMABAD: In order to alleviate parking woes, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to construct five parking plazas – a plan in motion for years – in the federal capital simultaneously.

During a meeting held at the CDA headquarters with Chairman Noorul Amin Mengal in the chair, the civic body discussed one point agenda i.e. shrinking parking spaces and the requirement of parking plazas in the city.

Sources said the CDA chairman was given a briefing on the planned plazas, in addition to the one under construction in Blue Area near Savour Foods. During the meeting, Engineering Member Syed Munawar Shah proposed that the CDA should start construction of at least two parking plazas at the earliest.

According to officials, the chairman directed the engineering wing that instead of two, work on five plazas should be started simultaneously. These plazas would be built in Karachi Company (G-9); Blue Area in G-9, F-10, F-8 and I-8 Markaz. The CDA chairman reportedly was of the view that parking was one of the major issues faced by citizens and that it was difficult for motorists to find parking in commercial centres of the city.

Official claims Blue Area parking plaza’s completion to take several months, blames delay on ‘nullah’

When contacted, the member engineering confirmed to Dawn that work on all parking plazas would be started simultaneously. “In the meeting, the chairman decided that construction work would be started as soon as possible,” he said and added that pre-qualification of firms was already in process, and after its completion, the CDA would float tenders.

He said directions were also issued for the completion of the ongoing parking plaza in Blue Area soon.

The member engineering said that the ground floor of these plazas would be used for commercial purposes while on its top floors, open-air restaurants would be established.

It is relevant to note here a few years ago, CDA announced that it would construct five parking plazas in various areas of Islamabad to resolve parking issues. However, as of now, only one plaza is under construction in Blue Area which is supposed to be completed in March this year.

The CDA officials blamed the delay on “slush and nullah crossing from the plot line”. They said that the substructure of the building has been finished but its completion would take several months. The plaza will have the capacity to accommodate 1,300 vehicles.

In 2016, the Islamabad Traffic Police had written to the CDA about the shortage of parking spaces in Blue Area and other commercial centres, including F-8 Markaz, where the city’s district courts are situated. In the past, the CDA, instead of constructing multi-storey parking plazas had built two underground parking spaces in Jinnah Super Market but that parking lots could not be utilised.

On the other hand, the CDA also failed to ensure parking in basements of commercial buildings, which has resulted in the burden of vehicles on the available parking areas. In almost all marakaz of the city, owners of plazas have hardly been using their basements for parking. Sources said that during the said meeting, the CDA chief also directed for stringent bylaws to deal with parking issues, saying that it was the responsibility of the civic agency to ensure parking space in all commercial plazas.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2023