THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The sharp criticism on its inaction by the Comproller and Auditor-General notwithstanding, the Thiruvananthapuram corporation has chosen not to act stringently on the commercial establishments in the city that operate without adequate parking space. Owners of several buildings that host textiles shops, educational institutions and restaurants lease out the cellar space for other commercial activities. The space has been used as a godown in some other cases. Mayor V.K. Prasanth, had promised to clamp down on all such defaulters.
The thumb rule in most Tier-I cities is that a commercial space should be able to provide parking for at least one car for every 150 square feet of floor space. Several buildings, mostly retail outlets on MG Road, were found to be illegally utilising their cellar during a field inspection. Pothys, Big Bazar, Kalyan Sarees, Paramount building and Jayalakshmi Silks were found to be using a portion of cellar parking floor for other purposes.
Some shops such as Maharajas Textiles, Lens and Frames and Planet Fashion at Kowdiar were found to have inadequate parking space compared to the floor area. The long list of parking-scarce institutions includes those give coaching for entrance examinations in areas such as Pattom and Vazhuthacuad.
“We have a maximum of around 100 traffic cop available at a time,” said senior police officials. “The corporation has the responsibility to ensure that highrises have adequate parking spaces before giving the permit to function. Huge commercial institutions should also pay up and get wardens.” “The corporation is learnt to be preparing a list to send notices to buildings violate the rules on the space,” said deputy mayor Rakhi Ravikumar.
