Acute shortage of vehicle parking space at airport

Acute shortage of vehicle parking space at airport

The Hindu

Government has turned down AAI's request for multi-level parking lot

BANGALORE: A multi-level parking lot might have solved all the traffic chaos witnessed at the HAL airport.

But repeated requests by the Airports Authority of India (AAI) for such a key structure was reportedly turned down by the Government. The reason: unnecessary expenditure, since the airport would eventually shift to Devanahalli.

Airport sources told The Hindu that the parking lot issue had been raised several times since 2002-03. But the HAL airport's imminent closure was quoted as an excuse for disapproval.

"This closure has been going on for the last four to five years, even as the vehicular movement to and from the airport has multiplied several times," said a top airport official. "A multi-level parking lot is never going to be wasted in a city like Bangalore."

Rat race

Choking the airport's thoroughfares, the unending stream of vehicles and an estimated 500 taxis cause a rat race for parking lot.

Although at the domestic departure, 90 per cent of the vehicles drop the passengers and leave, most vehicles hang around near the arrival terminal.

No choice

Private vehicles have no choice but to go around in circles as the parking lot, which can accommodate 500 cars, is mostly occupied by taxis.

Rajinder Singh, a frequent flyer, is at his wit's end finding a place to park his car. "Despite paying a hefty amount (Rs. 60 for parking a car, for every four hours), I find the lot has been taken up by the taxis. Either they should make a separate parking lot for private cars or segregate. Fifteen days ago, my brother was to come from Delhi by a 10.30 p.m. flight. I found 70 per cent of the space was occupied by taxis."

Parking beyond 90 seconds near the arrival and departure terminals is out of question as that would invite a fee of Rs. 60 plus penalties of Rs. 300 and upwards.

Impossible

Shifting your huge luggage in 90 seconds might be humanely impossible but there are supporters for the rule even among taxi drivers, who feel it clears congestion. Passengers such as businessman Gupta wonder why the parking lot outside the departure terminal is always crowded, peak hour or not.

"I don't think these cars belong to people who have come to drop or pick up passengers. Parking should be allowed only to those with a valid air ticket," he says.

Enquiries revealed that many cars are parked overnight — often at rates as high as Rs. 700 a day — by passengers scheduled to return in a day or two by air. Just back from a trip to Singapore, Mr. Gupta was awestruck by the parking discipline and the concept of dropping passengers by coaches there.

The AAI had proposed the idea of coaches to curb the entry of private vehicles to the airport, sometime ago. But where to accommodate the big coaches now was the AAI's big question.