Nov. 9: The Guwahati Municipal Corporation (GMC) has identified 40 sites along city roads that could be turned into car parks to solve the parking problem in the city.

An official source said these sites listed by the corporation are likely to be notified shortly as designated parking areas.

“The list will be placed before a panel formed by Dispur under the chairmanship of Kamrup (metro) deputy commissioner Prateek Hajela to find solutions to parking problem in Guwahati with security as top priority,” the source said.

The panel, which comprises representatives from the city police, Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and GMC, at its first sitting on Wednesday asked the corporation to shortlist suitable places for creating parking zones across the city.

“We have conducted a survey to prepare the list, which will be submitted to the panel tomorrow,” the source said.

The parking problem has returned to haunt the government as all the three car bombs went off at parking places, including one below the Ganeshguri flyover, on October 30, causing loss of lives and extensive damage to property.

Soon after the blasts, chief minister Tarun Gogoi ordered a ban on parking under any of the flyovers and constituted a committee headed by the deputy commissioner to find solutions to the parking problems in the city.

“After the list is endorsed by the committee, the government will officially declared these areas as parking zones and lease them out to private parties to operate on a pay-and- park basis,” the source said.

Following the ban on parking below flyovers, motorists were seen struggling for suitable places to park their vehicles.

The source said the committee would also recommend steps to improve security at the parking zones.

“Parking zones along the roads will be created at the identified locations and each area will be properly manned and secured. For security reasons, separate registers will be maintained for each area and the lessees will have to record the registration number, name of the owner, driver and other details of the parked vehicles,” the source said.

He said he hoped to receive co-operation from the people, as these measures have become imperative in order to prevent bomb blasts in public places.

“Some other modalities to enhance security arrangements in the parking areas are also being worked out by the committee,” he said.

According to the source, the new parking lots and norms are likely to come into effect from the end of this month. The sites will be of a reasonable size for better monitoring.

“It has been decided because from our past experience it was found that it is not easy to keep an eye on each and every vehicle parked in a big area. Moreover, in the lease deed it will be made mandatory for the lessee to employ sufficient number of staff for effective functioning and monitoring of vehicles,” the source said.