Cuttack, Nov. 12: The municipal corporation has decided to reassess the identified plots for the proposed 21 new parking lots in the city.

Official sources said though the sites were earlier identified after joint verification, bulk of the space had been encroached upon for several purposes, including installation of transformers and other public utilities.

The district administration had also notified the area for the development of the space for the new parking lots last year. But due to encroachment and other problems, not a single parking lot could be developed so far.

"We will shortly conduct a survey along with police as there is an urgent need to redraw the territory. After on-the-spot inspection, the work for the construction of new parking lots will start by this month," said Cuttack Municipal Corporation commissioner Gyana Das.

Das said that already a joint squad had been formed along with a few police officials to conduct a detailed verification of the space earlier selected for the proposed 21 parking lots.

At present, there are nearly 18 identified parking lots in different parts of the city that is not enough to tackle traffic in the city. Moreover, many of them have virtually turned into 'vending zones' or are used for other purposes in the city. The encroachment of such public utilities is affecting the traffic movement at major junctions during peak hours.

The Bajrakabati and Ranihat parking lots are the glaring examples where street vendors have encroached upon the space creating problems for commuters.

"There is absolutely no parking space available for the vehicles and the illegal encroachment is to be blamed for such situation," said Ramesh Sahu, a commuter.

Sahu said both Ranihat and Bajrakabati were very busy roads and people faced hurdles due to frequent traffic congestion on the stretches.

The corporation officials as well as the cops have failed to take concrete measures in clearing the encroachments at various parking lots.

"We have decided to cancel the agreement of those who are misusing the parking lots or have subletting the space for other purposes," Das said.

However, senior police officials claimed that a massive enforcement drive was launched to clear illegal encroachments from a parking place at Kanika Chhak last year. An encroachment drive would be taken up shortly after reviewing the status of the parking lots in consultation with the corporation, said a senior official requesting anonymity.

"A fresh survey will be conducted shortly to identify such illegal encroachments and appropriate action will be taken against the defaulters," said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) P.K. Dalai.