Residents mount campaign as NMMC is all set to form parking policy

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is all set to formulate a comprehensive parking policy for the city within a fortnight. In view of that, activists in Navi Mumbai have stepped up a campaign to highlight inadequate and expensive parking facilities, malpractices by hired agencies

VASHI

HT Image

The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) is all set to formulate a comprehensive parking policy for the city within a fortnight. In view of that, activists in Navi Mumbai have stepped up a campaign to highlight inadequate and expensive parking facilities, malpractices by hired agencies and insufficient space for parking in commercial areas.

“The drafting of a comprehensive policy that will address the parking issues witnessed across the city is in its final stages. The policy has incorporated information from CIDCO about the plots which can be developed into parking lots including an extensive study about the appropriate rates to be levied for different areas and the type of vehicles. The proposal will be tabled before the municipal commissioner for approval latest by this week,” said the Deputy Municipal Commissioner (DMC) Nitin Narvekar.

Meanwhile, there have been multiple attempts by residents to get the NMMC to take up the parking issues, the most recent being a campaign done a few days ago by Vashi resident and social activist Avadhoot More. More used the social networking platforms to flag off a campaign seeking residents’ views on whether the existing pay and park system by NMMC is justified. His concerns are rooted in the lack of parking provision in most of the CIDCO-built housing societies as well as row houses in Vashi.

“For the past three decades, most of the residents within this node have been parking on the sidewalks as there is no parking provision within these societies, and even in the row houses. But recently the NMMC has put up pay and park boards across these areas, resulting in a lot of issues between the residents and the attendants collecting the charges,” said More.

Activists have sought public opinion on matters such as pay and park policy bng imposed on residential areas, inadequate and expensive parking facilities, insufficient space for parking in commercial areas and malpractices by hired agencies implementing the policy. “We will submit a summary of the concerns expressed by the residents to the NMMC so that this burning issue is dealt with at the earliest,” said the activist.

The attempt to garner public opinion has got residents debating on the pros and cons of the issue. Vaibhav Gaikwad, ex corporator and Vashi resident, says the pay and park system is necessary to prevent illegal and haphazard parking. “The issue is not about pay and park per se but about intentionally not abiding by the law. There are private multi-specialty hospitals in Vashi not utilizing their parking spots within their premises and thus creating parking mess on the road,” said Gaikwad.

Another Vashi resident Rohitt Malhotra said the malpractices in parking charges was the primary reason for the friction between residents nd the parking agencies. “The actual fares to be levied for pay and parking are very less, but most of the contractors are levying a random amount, which leads to arguments. There is a need for transparency of fares and local residents should be issued a monthly pass system,” said Malhotra.

To address these grievances, the NMMC engineering department says it will take steps to ensure that all grievances are taken into account before the parking policy is approved. This includes reviewing a city survey done five years ago, identifying over 6,000 parking zones and even developing multi-level parking lots in various commercial zones of the city. “All the grievances pertaining to parking will be addressed as the policy which we have worked out takes care of all the aspects be it developing of parking lots in Belapur, Vashi or finalizing the rates for the 6,000-odd parking zones and even issuing monthly parking passes for CIDCO-built residential areas that doesn’t have parking provision,” said City engineer Sanjay Desai.