The Hindu         22.09.2014  

Civic body’s worrisome parking lots   

The city Corporation’s recent crackdown on illegal parking lots could not yield the desired results. Many commercial establishments are collecting parking fee from customers in violation of the Kerala Municipal Building Rules. The photo shows vehicles at the parking lot of the Corporation at Thampanoor.— Photo: S. Mahinsha

Regulation of parking lots continues to be a problem for the city Corporation. Some parking lots had been leased out to contractors or private parties after issuing licences. Some but remained ‘illegal.’ Attempts to crack down on these had not been successful, sources said.

A major parking lot which remained out of the Corporation’s control was the one adjacent Kovalam Beach. Parking fee from this 62-cent plot was being collected by a star hotel in the area. Protest marches by various parties and noisy council meetings could not change the state of affairs, sources said.

Land issue

“The land belonged to the Vizhinjam panchayat. But after Vizhinjam became part of the Corporation, documents of this land were not handed over to the civic body. We have written to the taluk office seeking details. There has been no reply. We cannot proceed legally without the documents, or we risk losing ownership forever,” Deputy Mayor Happy Kumar said.

A few months ago, the Corporation started a crackdown on illegal parking lots in the city’s cinema theatres, hospitals, and other commercial establishments. This was following complaints from various quarters on these establishments charging money from customers for parking their vehicles on the premises, in violation of the Kerala Municipal Building Rules (KMBR).

The move ended up being a false start as the civic body later backed out following legal advice.

According to the KMBR, permits could be given to a commercial establishment only if it had adequate parking space, in proportion to the area of the building. Private parking lots, independent of buildings, need to take a licence from the local body by paying the licence fee.

Some theatres had restarted collection of parking fee, making use of a technicality in the Municipal Act. As per the Act, they could collect money for ensuring the safety of the vehicle.

The theatres removed the line ‘we are not responsible for the safety of the vehicle’ from the parking coupon, which technically gave them the right to collect the fee, sources said.