Soon, pay and park on 85 roads in Bengaluru
Bengaluru: The BBMP which is readying to reintroduce pay and park in the city, has classified the 85 roads selected for it into three categories with A being for Premium Street Parking, B for Normal Street Parking and C for merely Street Parking.
It was on April 1, 2005 that paid parking was abolished in Bengaluru owing to its rampant misuse by the parking mafia , which printed unauthorised receipts and fleeced the public even on roads where the system was not in force.
This time, the BBMP, which has set June 6 as the last date for participation in the tender for the scheme, not only plans to operate pay and park on a public- private-partnership (PPP) basis for a period of 10 years, but has also taken a number of precautions to stop if from being misused.
For one, metered parking will be provided wherever possible and the parking area will be under the surveillance of cameras to keep vehicle thieves away.
The parking meters will use smart, credit or debit cards and also accept payment by cash. Additionally, vehicles will be identified through bar coded tickets or smart cards. In another innovation, which will allow drivers to heave a sight of relief , the facility will boast of a mobile app showing the availability of parking on real time basis and doing away with the need for them to run around in circles to find one.
The tender document reveals that the concessionaire will have to set up the facility on a Design Build Finance Operate Transfer (DBFOT) basis and the BBMP will take a call 10 years later on whether to extend the contract or take over the facility.
M. N. Sreehari, traffic expert
A road is meant for traffic and not parking. Allowing on street parking leads to congestion on the roads. Already many people park their cars on the roads after receiving approval for their building plans with the required parking space. Also, structures meant for basement parking are turned into shops and plazas. All this just contributes to blocking the roads.
Padmanabha Reddy, opposition leader in BBMP
We are against on- street parking. The Congress banned paid parking to put an end to the parking mafia, which was fleecing the public. Also, the BBMP should not collect a fee on the roads that are meant for the use of the public.
N. S. Mukunda, general secretary, Citizen Action Forum
This is a very good initiative as the vehicles will be safe and under surveillance. It will also prevent haphazard parking and congestion on the roads especially in commercial areas and the central business district.
