Park here only to feel the pinch

Park here only to feel the pinch

The hike in daily parking fee for a four-wheeler at KSRTC bus stand is a whopping 2500%

Sunitha Rao R. Bangalore



If you are planning to go on a trip outside the city and hoping to park your vehicle at the KSRTC bus stand at Majestic before embarking on a long bus ride, here's reason to think again — the fee for parking a four-wheeler at the bus stand is no longer Rs10 per day, but Rs250.
There is an acute shortage of parking space in the Central Business District in which the Majestic area falls, with the start of the Metro work. The revised parking rates are being charged since November 1.
Vijay Kumar was among those caught unawares—he had parked his two-wheeler at the KSTRC bus stand for three days, and proceeded on a trip outside the city. He has done this several times in the past, and as always, he whipped Rs30 out of his wallet to pay the parking fee on Friday, on his return. He was told that he ought to pay Rs300. Surprised and agitated, Kumar entered into a heated argument with officials at the parking lot. They too would hear none of it, though, and would not settle for less than Rs200. Kumar was left with no option but to pay the revised fee.
"We ride our own vehicles to the bus stand, so we can save the auto rickshaw fare. But I've ended up paying so much more now for parking my vehicle here. This is a ridiculously high amount to pay as parking fees, don't you think? Rs300, when we earlier paid Rs30. This kind of money generation cannot be allowed," said an angry Kumar.
MP Prabhu Das, divisional controller at the Kempegowda bus station said, "We have been facing an acute shortage of space at the bus station since the beginning of Metro work here. Since parking fee was nominal, many people working in the vicinity would park here and go to work. For days together, people would park here even if they were not commuting by bus. The parking lot was always full, and those who genuinely needed the service as they came to pick up friends or family were left with little space. We do not want people to misuse this space and park here for days together. And we need more space."
Das said that the Metro Corporation was using much of the space that was previously available to the KSRTC: "BMRCL will be using 22.5 acres of the area during the construction of the Metro. We will lose seven acres to the Metro permanently. And this is space that we have been using for parking purposes too."
However, despite the higher fee, there is less revenue from the
parking for KSRTC: "Earlier, the collection per month from parking alone was Rs5.5 lakh: Rs1 lakh
from four-wheelers and Rs4.5 lakh from two-wheelers. However,
since November 1, we have been netting only Rs4,000 from four-wheelers and Rs8,000 from two-wheelers parked here each day," said Prabhu Das.
Earlier, the parking lot here could accommodate 2,500 two-wheelers and nearly 100 four- wheelers. Now, the capacity has shrunk to 1,000 two-wheelers and 60 cars.