Motorists get ‘lots’ to gripe about

Motorists get ‘lots’ to gripe about
DH News Service Bangalore:
The motorist-denizens of Bangalore have long been chafing at the lack of parking facilities in the City.

The motorist-denizens of Bangalore have long been chafing at the lack of parking facilities in the City. Now they may get more space to park their vehicles, courtesy of BBMP’s new budget proposals. But is it going to be more than what they bargained for?

Because, from now on, City motorists will have to pony up hefty parking fees, if the BBMP gets the government’s nod for reintroducing the pay & park system.

In the budget proposals for 2007-08, the Palike has expressed its intention of introducing metered parking for both two- and four-wheelers in 30 major roads, including MG Road, Residency Road and Church Street. This has been planned following the successful implementation of metered parking at Brigade Road and Commercial Street, according BBMP commissioner K Jairaj. On these two roads, the metered parking charge is Rs 10 per hour and a four-wheeler is allowed to be parked for a maximum of two hours. The metered system is going to be run on the private-public partnership model. Mr Jairaj, while declining to disclose the parking fee to be collected in 30 roads, said the roads would be selected in consultation with the traffic police.

Pvt plots as lots

In a major move, the Palike has decided to utilise private vacant plots to provide parking.

If the owners of vacant property come forward to provide space for parking, then the Palike would given them incentive in the form of exempting them from paying property tax on their vacant land.

Mr Jairaj said the Palike had identified over 2,500 such vacant sites adjacent to arterial and sub-arterial roads across the City. If the owners are willing to co-operate with the Palike, then congestion on roads can be tackled.

The Palike has also proposed automatic car parking at Gandhinagar. Under this advanced system, soon after the owner drops the car at the entry point it will be lifted by machines and parked at a computer-allotted lot. The vehicle owner will take back the vehicle on production of the receipt.

“If the system works out successfully, Bangalore will become the first city to have such an advanced parking system in South India,” Mr Jairaj said. In addition, the Palike has plans to provide off-road car parking facility at a number of locations, including Ulsoor and Koramangala, as well as multi-level ramped car parks in some select locations.