Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) has introduced five new parking lots while renewing the parking tender in the city.

Two new parking lots in Bistupur are near P&M Hi-Tech City Centre Mall and in HDFC Bank’s Ram Mandir branch lane. The other three are in Sakchi and at Kadma market.

Parking charge for two-wheelers have been increased from Rs 5 for two hours to Rs 10 across all parking lots.

The parking fee for four-wheelers stays at Rs 20.

“Paid parking in public places keeps away rogues from stealing vehicles. Therefore, we brought some new area in our fold while re-allotting the tender for parking on Wednesday,” JNAC special officer Krishna Kumar said.

He said the parking charge for two-wheelers was doubled in view of the rising maintenance cost. “We understand that coughing up Rs 10 for parking a two-wheeler can pinch pockets, but we had to revise the rate to sustain the system. We have not increased the parking rate for the four-wheelers,” Kumar said.

Incidents of vehicle theft are higher in free parking lots.

Two places that were most prone to vehicle theft were P&M Hi-Tech City Centre Mall on Outer Circle Road at South Park in Bistupur and the area in front of Tata Main Hospital.

There is a parking space on the premises of P&M Hi-Tech City Centre Mall, but no such place outside. As a result, theft of bikes from near the mall was a regular affair.

The parking lot of Tata Main Hospital (TMH) has turned into a hunting ground for bike thieves ever since the hospital’s employees’ co-operative society stopped managing it citing losses.

However, the JNAC has not included the TMH parking area in its tender.

Bistupur OC Rajesh Prakash Sinha said he received regular complaints of thefts from near TMH and P&M Hi-Tech City Centre Mall.

“On an average, we get two complaints of vehicle theft from near TMH and the mall. Now, we hope we will not get any complaint from the mall area at least,” the Bistupur OC.

Vehicle owners seemed happy. “With the new parking facility outside the mall, I will not have to be anxious about my bike any more,” said Prabhat Singh, a resident of Adityapur.