In Darjeeling, where finding a parking space is always a nightmare, the municipality has cleared vehicles from the rooftop of a seven-storey parking plaza to set up a Sunday haat (bazaar) as part of its “futurist endeavour”.

Dipendra Thakuri, the chairman of the Darjeeling municipality, said that permission to clear the rooftop of vehicles and set up the market once a week was granted after people approached them with the proposal.

“The initiative is an attempt to provide a platform to local women entrepreneurs,” said Thakuri after inaugurating the Aitabara (Sunday) Gorkha Haat at the parking plaza along the Lebong Cart Road near the Darjeeling Government College on Sunday.

Asked if the parking space would still be allowed to be used as a market space even during peak tourist season, Thakuri stood his ground for a “futurist endeavour.”

“We believe in futurist endeavours.... We will create a situation to send a message that the haat will be set up here (every Sunday no matter what),” said said civic chairman Thakuri.

During Darjeeling’s peak tourist seasons — usually between mid-March and mid-June and again from October to November — huge traffic snarls and lack of parking space disrupt normal life in the town.

The parking plaza near Darjeeling Government College was built at a cost of ₹26 crore and inaugurated in 2016.

Six storeys of the parking plaza lie below the road.

The rooftop runs parallel to the Lebong Cart Road, making it convenient for vehicles to enter the rooftop.

However, when the parking space was inaugurated, people were surprised to find 27 shuttered shops on the rooftop instead of a parking space.

After much criticism, Anit Thapa, the then administrator of the GTA, ordered the shops to be dismantled and free the space for parking in 2020.

However, in October 2022, the Darjeeling district administration granted permission for a fair (mela) on the rooftop with the organisers even installing a Ferris wheel there.

Following another round of controversy with several residents raising safety questions, the fair was cut short.

The multi-level parking space at Lebong Cart Road can accommodate 300 vehicles but is still incomplete.

A PWD department office was required to be dismantled to complete the project.

However, with relations between the then GTA chief Bimal Gurung and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hitting the nadir, the office was not dismantled.

As a result of this stand-off, the parking space does not have different entry and exit points, creating inconvenience for motorists.

Thakuri on Sunday said that the administration would allow similar markets to be set up in the Darjeeling town area if the identified space did not inconvenience the general public.