Punekars irked as abandoned vehicles usurp parking lots on several roads
City has 43 lakh registered vehicles, over 3 lakh are added every year; indicating parking space is less than demand
As public parking lots and spaces along the roadside and under flyovers in the central, southern and western parts of the city have been usurped by abandoned vehicles, citizens are struggling to find parking space for their vehicles.
Of the 33 Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) parking lots at Katraj; Dengle Bridge; Rajiv Gandhi Zoo, Katraj; Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) terminal, Katraj; Navloba parking lot; parking lot near P L Deshpande garden, Bibwewadi; and Sai Baba temple, Gul Tekdi; several are occupied by abandoned vehicles.
This week, Amit Dhanawade, a resident of Bibwewadi, found that there was hardly any space to park his two-wheeler at the Katraj parking lot. “I had to park it on the roadside but there too, space was in short supply,” he said.
Bibwewadi resident Manoj Khandelwal said, “When I went to park my car at the PMC parking lot, I was astonished to find vehicles parked indiscriminately at the venue. The parking contractor was least interested in clearing the space for my car and besides that, a number of unused cars were parked and they were covered in thick dust. I presume they have been parked since a long time and the PMC has not bothered to remove them from the spot.”
Ajay Waghmare, a parking lot operator at the Katraj Depot, said, “We have informed the PMC and the traffic department about the presence of abandoned vehicles in the parking lot but no action has been taken. We do not touch these vehicles as they might be stolen or used for criminal purposes and hence, a detailed investigation must be carried out by the police and also the PMC. Besides, we are also suffering revenue losses due to these abandoned vehicles.”
Pune city has more than 43 lakh registered vehicles to which over three lakh vehicles are added every year, indicating that the supply of parking space is less than the demand for it.
Parking facilities are a major cost to society and as the number of vehicles in the city explodes, parking has become a public nuisance, swallowing all spaces available for road users and creating a demand for available open spaces to be turned into parking lots.
The mindset that the ‘provision of parking is a right’ must be changed. Creation of parking space and land required for that is extremely valuable, and no resident has the right to its free use, according to the PMC.
Srinivas Bonala chief engineer (projects), said, “There are around 30 parking lots in the city and they are used to park vehicles. The space cannot keep pace with the growing number of vehicles but still, our department is trying its level best to give parking facility to every person who visits the parking lot for parking their vehicle. The problem of vehicle parking exists across Pune and universally. All efforts would be taken to remove the abandoned vehicles if found by any of the commuters.”