Beware! Your car is not safe in parking

CHANDIGARH: Your vehicle is not safe even when it is parked in the paid parking area, and you have shelled out Rs 2 to Rs 5 from your pocket for it. As in the past one year, nearly 40 vehicles have been stolen from the paid parking areas of the city. These parking areas, which have been allocated to private contractors by the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation through auctions, are in different sectors, including 8, 9, 26, 17, 34 and 35.
"I had lost my Maruti car from the paid parking lot of Sector 9. I understand that these thefts can occur anywhere, but my experience was very bad, as the contractor was not at all cooperative. Initially, he straightaway denied that my car was even parked in his area. We had to create a lot of pressure on him, which resulted in the late registration of FIR, giving enough time for the accused to run away," said Puneet Sandhu, a Sector 26-based trader.
The police had written to MC officials to install CCTV cameras in all the parking areas, but many are still without any electronic surveillance, and most of the cameras are lying defunct. "We have started deploying cops in plain clothes at various parking lots to keep an eye on anti-social elements. Besides, we have also issued instructions to parking contractors to hire sufficient staff to make sure nobody dares to steal any vehicle," said Ashish Kapoor, DSP (central).
However, contractors have strategically written conditions on parking slips that would help them go scot-free if there is any case of vehicle theft. It is written: "?Contractor is not responsible for the theft of any article kept in the vehicle or damaged while using the parking facility." But there is no mention about theft of the parked vehicle.