Team Herald
PONDA: The Rajiv Gandhi Kala Mandir was thrown open to public eight month ago, but its parking lot is still off limits for the people who come to attend functions or watch entertainment programmes at the public auditorium.
In the absence of a designated parking space, the public are forced to park their vehicles along the main road which inevitably leads to obstruction of traffic and chaos.
On Sunday, a heavy traffic jam was witnessed due to haphazard parking of vehicles by people who had come to watch a drama at the Kala Mandir.
According to official estimates, the parking lot of Rajiv Gandhi Kala Mandir can accommodate around 200 vehicles. However, it is lying idle and is being used as a dumping ground for garbage and construction materials. Besides, a huge chamber dug up by the Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) contractor has compounded the woes of the public.
Meanwhile, social activist Viraj Sapre and Shiv Sena leader Gansham Naik have appealed to the municipal and Kala Mandir authorities to clear the parking lot of garbage and construction material and make it available to people who visit the public auditorium.
