In a bid to resolve car parking issues, the civic body is now looking under the ground.
In a bid to resolve car parking issues, the civic body is now looking under the ground.
While there is a demand for two lakh car parking lots, only 30,000 are available in the city. With the FSI for parking policy stayed after the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) found builders were misusing it, the body is forced to look for alternatives.
“We have asked our officers to identify locations in city and submit feasibility study reports. But with hardly any open spaces available for parking, it is the need of the hour to go underground,” said a senior civic official.
Pradeep Gurjar, chief engineer of the BMC’s project planning and control cell, confirmed that they had identified Gilder Tank at Tardeo for underground parking. “The proposal is at a nascent stage. We are trying to find as many places as possible where underground parking lots can be developed. It will be a little while before the idea takes concrete shape,” he said.
Nitin Dossa, president of Western India Automobile Association welcomed the decision. “I have been hearing for a long time about underground car parking proposals. If the corporation doesn’t work fast, no car will be able to move in the city. The parking situation is turning from bad to worse. People have to run here and there to get space to park the vehicles. Cars are just piling on roads due to space constraints,” said Dossa. “BMC can use its open spaces and gardens to create underground car parking facility,” he added.
Ashok Datar, city traffic expert, however, said that underground parking could be a costly idea and such lots will be used only by the elite.
“It costs almost Rs30 lakh to create one underground lot. Instead of discouraging people, authority is encouraging them by creating maximum underground parking facilities. Unless the BMC increases the on-street parking charges, people will not park their vehicles underground. The BMC should implement parking rules strictly. There should be a heavy penalty for parking vehicles on streets and footpaths,” he said.
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