Berhampur, May 18: The development authority has adopted a tough stand towards shopping complexes, jewellery shops and showrooms that have no parking space for visitors.

It has served notice to 30 such complexes to provide parking space within two months.

Berhampur Development Authority secretary Dipti Mahapatra said if the establishments failed to do so within the stipulated time, they would face action.

"We have collected fines of Rs 2.76 lakh from Bazaar Kolkata and Rs 2.04 lakh from Metro Bazar as fine for flouting the rules while construction of the commercial complex and not submitting the layout plan of the buildings," Mahapatra said.

"On May 4, both these malls were locked for the lack of parking space. But now, we have allowed them to open after they agreed to provide their own parking space within one month and deposit the fines."

Ganjam collector Prem Chandra Chowdhary convened a meeting of shopping complexes and mall owners to make them aware about parking situation and traffic congestion. Officers of the development authority and the Berhampur Municipal Corporation were among those, who attended the meeting. The collector had urged them to abide by the rules. Provision of parking space has been made mandatory in all the two-storey commercial complexes situated in prime localities.

The parking of vehicles outside the commercial buildings has definitely resulted in traffic congestion and is a headache for police, Berhampur traffic inspector Rabindranath Patra said.

"The development authority approves of basement parking at commercial buildings and it must look into how this could be implemented," he said.

"Many shopping complex that have basement parking facilities mostly rent out the space to private parties for conducting weddings and other social events. Consequently, car owners have no option but to park their vehicles by the road," said local resident Srikant Patnaik. "Misuse of basement parking is rampant. Strict action such as imposing a hefty penalty and imprisonment will be a good deterrent," he said, adding that though making parking facility mandatory for all shopping complexes is a welcome step, it was also important to keep a watch so that basement parking spaces are not misutilised.