The trial run is done and the ?country?s first hi-tech underground parking plaza? is ready to roll, but there are no cars in sight. A row involving local CPM leaders and the party-controlled Calcutta Municipal Corporation (CMC) has slammed the brakes on the parking plaza below Lindsay Street.

Backing the New Market traders? stand, the Calcutta district committee leaders of the CPM are mounting pressure on the civic body to bring some changes in the plaza design ? not technically possible now, according to engineers ? before inaugurating the project.

Traders and party leaders want a carriageway laid on the northern side of Lindsay Street, adjacent to New Market, scrapping plans for a pedestrian plaza, fountain, artificial waterbody and all.

?The carriageway, at least 16 ft wide, is a must. We understand nothing about engineering safety, but we need to save our business. How will customers visit our shops if cars are not allowed in front of New Market?? asked Ashok Gupta of the New Market Joint Action Forum.

According to civic engineers, a carriageway on the northern side of Lindsay Street is not possible, as the concrete below the re-laid road surface is not strong enough to bear the load of vehicular traffic.

On the proposed waterbody, engineers said a pool with a capacity of 500,000 gallons of water is a must for fire-fighting. ?There is no question of dropping the plan,? asserted mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya.

The Rs 33-crore underground parking plaza is coming up as a joint venture between the civic body and Simplex Projects Limited, on a build-operate-transfer basis.

Of the total capacity of 281 cars, provisions have been made for parking 50 cars in the first phase. The mayor was scheduled to throw this open in the first week of July, but that has been deferred. ?The design of the parking lot and the commercial complex had been drawn up without taking the traders into confidence,? alleged local CPM leader and former councillor Provakar Mondol.