2 senior citizens inside, car 'illegally' towed by parking contractors in Noida
Noida, Mar 20: Two senior citizens, including a heart patient on the way to a hospital, on Wednesday alleged misbehavior by contractual parking workers in Noida after they "illegally" towed away the septuagenarians' car while the elderly were sitting inside.
An FIR has been lodged in the case and the private agency handling the parking work in Sector 50, where the incident took place, has been slapped with a penalty of Rs 50,000 and issued a show cause notice as to why it should not be blacklisted, according to officials.
A purported video of the incident surfaced on social media, showing a crane towing the red-colour hatchback even as the senior citizens were sitting inside it.
While speaking to a TV news channel, car owner Vishwajit Mazumder said he had gone to a hospital in Noida Sector 50 with his sister-in-law and they were asked for some payment in cash along with photocopies of some documents.
"In a little hurry, we parked the car in a no-parking zone in Sector 50 and could not see the no-parking signage as it was covered by some tree leaves. We were back in five minutes after work but by that time, the car's front portion was lifted up for towing," Mazumder told NDTV.
"We begged the parking workers that we have a patient who needs to go to the hospital. She has a heart ailment. We are senior citizens, 70 years old. The parking workers did not listen to us. A crowd gathered there and even they appealed for us, but to no avail. The parking workers insisted that the car can be taken from the police station now," he claimed.
The elderly man said he even offered some money to the parking workers to release the car, citing shortage of time at their end.
"The boys (parking workers) were very indecent. This is usual with contract workers now. They are not educated and have no process of working. We were sitting inside the car and they towed us to the police station," Mazumder said.
Later in the day, the Noida Authority said it is operating surface parking in various sectors through private agencies for smooth traffic in the city.
It noted that MG Infra Solution has been allotted work in Sector 50 and on Wednesday its crane operator and his assistant "illegally" towed away the car from there to the parking of Logix Mall in Sector 32, and "tarnished" the image of the authority with this act.
"This company has been warned in the past also about violating the conditions of the contract by misbehaving with citizens and extorting money from them. For the incident on March 20, an FIR has been lodged at Sector 49 police station against the crane operator and his assistant while a penalty of Rs 50,000 slapped on MG Infra Solution," the authority said in a statement.
A show cause notice has also been issued to the company to explain why it should not be blacklisted for works of the authority, it added.
पूरे उत्तर प्रदेश में अवैध वसूली के चक्कर में पार्किंग संचालको की दबंगई चरम पर है।
— AamAadmiPartyUPMedia (@MediaCellAAPUP) March 20, 2024
नोएडा सेक्टर 50 से कार में बैठे बुजुर्ग दम्पति सहित कार को क्रेन से उठाकर ले जा रहे पार्किंग संचालक।
ऐसे ट्रैफिककर्मियों के होते किसी गुंडे-मवाली की जरूरत ही नही!
धिक्कार है ऐसे सिस्टम पर! pic.twitter.com/kEdWHNcKFM
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
