The parking lot near the Additional Secretariat here which is the site of several public protests in the past has now been fenced off.
The space which is used for parking by the staff of the State secretariat and other offices is known for hosting a number of protests by pressure groups and other leaders.
The most popular protest at the site was the hunger strike by VPP president Ardent M. Basaiawmoit in May 2023 on the issue of job reservation policy and the recent hunger strike by Ri-Bhoi woman Bindas Syiem on the issue of Umden road.
Authorities have disallowed parking of vehicles at the parking lot even as a fence is being built around the area. The fencing work is expected to be completed soon.
However, authorities said that the fence was built in order to facilitate construction of a mechanised multi-level car park.
The mechanised multi-level car park at the parking lot near Additional Secretariat will be built at a cost of Rs 6.5 crore. Already, the Urban Affairs Department has floated tenders inviting experienced firms to construct the mechanised multi-level car parks on Design, Build, Operate, Maintain and Transfer (DBOMT) system.
The proposed mechanised fully automatic multi-level car park near Additional Secretariat will have 58 car parking spaces. Parking spaces at all floors will be suitable for SUVs and Sedan cars up to the weight of 2300 kg. The existing parking lot near Additional Secretariat including the existing public toilet has a site area of 632 square metres.
The proposed car park will have a rainwater harvesting system, toilet, compound wall, gates, internal roads, street lighting, LED signage and landscaping etc besides CCTV system, control rooms, pump room, fire fighting system, ticket counters etc.
With a view to reduce cash handling and provide further options for payment, a cashless parking payment mechanism will be implemented. It allows users to pay to park their vehicle using a mobile phone (pay-by phone mobile app), bank card through a smart parking card instead of using physical currency in a parking lot.
The system offers a wide range of benefits to customers, including choice of payment method, reminders that their parking session is due to end and the flexibility to extend their parking session using their mobile phone, thereby eliminating the need to over-book initially.
The contractor selected to build and run the car park shall be required to pay an annual guaranteed license fee to Shillong Smart City Limited in the first year which will be raised by 10 per cent every year during the Operations and Maintenance period. For the car park near Additional Secretariat, the contractor will have to pay an annual guaranteed license fee of Rs 3.50 lakh. The contractor will also have to pay an annual guaranteed license fee of Rs 21.50 lakh.
