The parking lot at Madhusudan Chawk near Rourkela station is now a cow shed, six months after its inauguration. Picture by Uttam Kumar Pal

Rourkela, Sept. 5: A parking space meant for autorickshaws and cars at Madhusudan Marg near the railway station here is in a shambles within just six months of its inauguration.

Local residents said the parking lot was constructed at a cost of Rs 43.5 lakh and was inaugurated on April 1 on the occasion of Utkal Divas.

Since then, it could not be used for long periods of time because it remained submerged owing to faulty design. Also, the tiles laid on the floor got disintegrated due to heavy rain and waterlogging.

Autorickshaw drivers said earlier they were parking their vehicles on the roads and the traffic police used to collect heavy fines from them.

“We were forced to pay Rs 500 for parking illegally on the roads. After we complained to the municipality, the authorities constructed this parking lot and allowed us to park our vehicles there from April. But when the monsoon came, we could not park our vehicles there because of waterlogging,” said autorickshaw driver Gorakh Chandra Biswal.

Chairperson of Rourkela Municipality Rashmibala Mishra said work on the parking lot had not yet been completed. “We are repairing it and are also trying to make arrangements to remove rainwater,” said Mishra.