Preventing visitors from parking illegal

Harsh Jain, who visited a showroom located on one of the busiest streets in the city, could not find a place to park his vehicle. He eventually parked his vehicle, but could not enjoy the shopping experience for, at the back of his mind he was worried about his vehicle being towed away by traffic police personnel. And his fears came true, when he returned to find that his vehicle had been towed away by the traffic personnel.

Jain had to park in a no parking zone because he was not allowed to park inside the complex where he went to shop. The security guard showed him the: 'visitors parking not allowed' sign.  Many of us have been prevented from parking our vehicles in the parking space of a complex because we were visitors.

But what many of us don't know is that preventing visitors from parking their vehicles in either commercial or residential complex is illegal.

This is because as per the rules, 20% of the parking space in any complex is to be reserved for visitors. As parking spaces become precious, many developers and owners of shopping complexes turn a blind eye to rules that make parking space for visitors mandatory. Even the civic body, which regularised the structural developments in the city, do not bother to verify if a complex has reserved a part of its parking space for visitors.  "The developers have to reserve 30% of the floor space index (FSI) for parking and of this, 20% space on the ground floor should be for visitors parking," said Utpal Padia, deputy municipal commissioner of estate management department of the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC).  "The building usage permission is granted only when such a provision is made by the developer," Padia said.

"The civic body has made it mandatory for a builder to put a board indicating parking for visitors. It is only then that the building usage permission is given," said Anil Patel, chairman of estate management and town planning committee of AMC.

Though the law is in place, the citizens hardly benefit from it.

"The visitors have to suffer a lot because of unavailability of parking space. The parking space on CG Road is always taken up and people end up paying fine for parking in no-parking zone," said Bakul Gajjar, a resident of Vastrapur.

Visitors parking not allowed – is a message found often outside various complexes in the city.

But the civic body does not bother to take action against the errant builders.

"It is not possible to check if the owners of a buildings are using the parking space to park their own vehicles or leaving some for visitors," said Padia. "In case we receive a complaint, the civic body will serve a notice to the owners association to make provision for visitors' parking," he said.

The developers are of the opinion that the new buildings have enough parking not only for the owners but also for visitors.  However, the buildings that were built before 2001 do have a problem of parking space.  "Given the rise in number of vehicles in the city parking space will be a big issue," said Suresh Patel, vice-president of Gujarat Institute of Housing and Estate Developers (GIHED).

He said that the civic body should build multi-storey parking to solve the issue.

"Many commercial complexes have kept parking reserved for visitors, but the visitors
face problem when the parking space is fully occupied," said Jaxay Shah, president of Confederation of Real Estate Developers Associations of India (Gujarat unit).  He said that the parking policy needs to be reviewed and replaced with one that is modern and realistic.

AMC continues demolition drive
DNA Correspondent

DNA Correspondent

The AMC is planning a massive demolition drive on CG Road. However, it is waiting for the high court's judgment regarding the same. Earlier traders from the area had approached the court in connection with the demolition drive.

The AMC's demolition drive in other parts of the city continued on Monday. Madhupura, Dhudheshwar, Odhav, Thakkarnagar, Potalia, Maninagar and SG Highway saw encroachments being razed. "The civic body is all set for the removal of illegal constructions in various parts of the city. It will prepare a 10 days schedule for carrying out the demolition on CG Road," said Utpal Padia, deputy municipal commissioner of West Zone. He said that AMC is waiting for the high court's judgment in the case.

The civic body razed around 80 industrial and 20 commercial constructions in the Ambicanagar and GIDC area of Odhav.  Some 1.5 kilometres long road and 3500 square meter land was freed from encroachment. Moreover, it also removed commercial sheds from 300 square meter land at Rabari Colony in Odhav.