HYDERABAD, March 23: District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil has said the local government will construct multi-storey parking plazas in different congested areas of the city to ensure smooth traffic flow on roads. He was presiding over a meeting of the district development committee at his office here on Wednesday.

He said the continuous process of vertical development and irregularities of builders had destroyed the infrastructure of the city and increased congestion, especially on roads in populated areas.

The nazim said that in absence of parking areas, people were compelled to park their vehicles on road sides. He said the trend had aggravated the situation and created traffic problems in the city.

He said he had asked the City taluka nazim to identify areas where multi-storey parking plazas could be constructed. He hoped the scheme would be launched this year.

He said that check on irregularities of builders was also essential for future planning.

He said he had constituted a task force, comprising union council nazims and officers of departments concerned, to conduct a survey of ongoing multi-storey buildings to ensure approved maps were being followed in the projects. He said necessary legislation would also be made in the district council to check irregularities of builders.

Mr Jamil said the district government had not issued a single permission to any builder since it had banned construction of multi-storey plazas in November 2004. However, the projects approved before the ban had been allowed.

He said the district government had asked owners of multi-storey buildings to provide parking space, drainage and water supply facilities, otherwise action would be taken against them.

The nazim directed for constituting three-member development committees at the union council level to monitor the quality of development works and ensure completion of the projects in the stipulated time.

Meanwhile, a 10-member delegation of an NGO, Junior Chamber International, led by its vice-president Nemantha Abeysinghe, called on the district nazim at his office on Wednesday.

The nazim told the delegation that the district government was interested in launching a skill development project for youngsters with a view to providing more business and employment opportunities to them. He hoped the project would help the youth to promote business activities in the city.

Referring to an offer of the NGO about providing training to nazims and councillors, Mr Jamil said the district government was already working on the project.