Loony mayor cuts loose

Mayor calls for free parking
Deccan Herald

Mayor R Naraya-naswamy has proposed a free vehicle parking system on City roads, cancelling the existing pay-and-park contract, DHNS reports from Bangalore .

“I will put up this proposal before the Council and allow a discussion on it.

“I am against collecting fee for parking vehicles and will try my best to stop this,” Mr Narayan-aswamy told Deccan Herald.

The Bangalore Mahanagara Palike Council meeting is scheduled for Saturday at 11 am.

In fact, Karnataka Lokayukta Justice N Venkatachala in a recent letter to the BMP had suggested that the system be done away with as there was resentment from citizens towards it. Over and above, various residents welfare associations and political parties, especially the City BJP unit, have been charging that there are loopholes in the existing contract, which has given room for irregularities.

Mr Narayanaswamy explained that the common man, especially those from the middle income group, are badly hit due to the existing system. “One has to spend an average of Rs 15 to 20 per day just for parking a vehicle. The same could be used to meet other daily expenses,” he felt.

The BMP earns a revenue of around Rs 4 crore per year from parking fee. “If members (corporators) oppose this move citing revenue as a reason, I will show them plenty of other areas where there is revenue leakage,” he added.

BMP collects parking fee on 128 City roads under the existing parking contract, which is awarded to 81 contractors for a year.