Pay and park may be back

Pay and park may be back
DH News Service, Bangalore:
The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) is seriously considering reintroduction of the parking fee system in the City.

State Chief Secretary P B Mahishi disclosed this to mediapersons here on Friday after a review meeting on infrastructure related issues chaired by the governor at Vidhan Soudha. He added that a decision would be soon taken in this regard. Advisors to the governor- P P Prabhu, P K H Tharakan and S Krishna Kumar - were also present at the meeting.

BBMP Commissioner S Subramanya, who attended the meeting, said that plans were afoot to automatise the parking facility in the City. “We propose to build multi-storeyed parking complexes at various places in the City and install fully automatised parking facilities. A project report is being prepared in this regard. We intend to charge Rs 10 per hour for a four-wheeler”, Dr Subramanya stated. The BBMP is also planning to introduce the system of allowing parking in vacant sites. “Through the system, parking of vehicles on the streets can be avoided. Moreover, the site owners can also earn some money,” he added. Mr Mahishi said that the governor had asked the heads of all departments concerned to submit a comprehensive report by November 20, on the status of short-term infrastructure projects proposed for the City.

The governor had also suggested involvement of private companies in the construction of multi-storeyed parking complexes in the City. More than 40 places have been identified in the City for setting up the complexes.

Dr Subramanya informed that pothole filling work in the City would be completed in three days.

Widening work on 11 major roads including the important Race Course Road and Bellary Road would be completed by the end of March 2008.

Later, speaking to media persons after the Janata Darshan programme, Governor Rameshwar Thakur said that concrete measures would be initiated immediately to upgrade Bangalore’s infrastructure facilities. Steps would also be taken to remove major bottlenecks in the smooth flow of traffic.

Mr Thakur indicated that he had taken serious note of the infrastructure problems in the City, which led to frequent traffic jams.

Mr Krishna Kumar said the BBMP commissioner had explained the difficulties he faced in taking up widening work on Bellary Road. “The governor approved a project worth Rs 12.72 crore,” he added.

At the meeting, it was decided to delegate more powers to the BBMP commissioner, so that he could take up work under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JNNURM) programme.

The governor has also sought a report on the traffic management system for the City.