South Mumbai's much-touted pilot parking project still in limbo after 5 years

It has been five years, but the much-touted differential pay and parking policy in A ward is yet to see the light of day. The BMC tried to push it hard but residents and corporators across party lines opposed it. Residents association of A Ward approached chief minister to put stay on it which was lifted in January 2017 before the BMC elections.

The parking policy involves differential rates for different parts of the city. It is divided into three categories — A, B and C, depending on congestion level. The residents of A ward have to pay Rs 1,800 for a month to park their vehicle on the road from 8 pm to 8 am. "The residents want 24 hours parking area which is not possible," said Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of the A ward.

Around 30 housing societies had submitted applications to the BMC for 300 dedicated parking spots along roads. But the traffic department refused to take responsibility of monitoring the proposed parking lots. "On an average there are four cars per home in A ward. Even Ola, Uber drivers park their vehicles in inner lanes, The double parking hampers movement of fire engine and ambulance," Dighavkar said.

Makrand Narvekar, corporator from Colaba said that there are many reserved plots in A ward for parking in the DP but the BMC is not doing anything to develop it."

PARKING PLAN

• BMC’s urban planners will map parking lots in all 24 wards 
   
• Planners will create data of on-street and off-street public parking lots 
   
• After mapping parking lots, planners will survey traffic density
   
• Plans afoot to develop mobile app to book parking slots in advance