Indian Express 25.05.2010
City now a free parking zone for two-wheelers
Express News Service Tags : parking Posted: Tue May 25 2010, 03:54 hrs
Parking charges for four-wheelers on designated roads remain.
On Monday, Mayor Mohansingh Rajpal directed the civic administration to withdraw scheme for two-wheelers. The civic general body had passed a resolution to this effect about six months ago, but the civic body did not carry it out arguing the deal with parking contractors on some roads had not ended.
On Monday, the controversial scheme came under the scanner of elected representatives following a proposal related to a parking complex in Shivajinagar. The topic led to a discussion on parking charges and parking contractors, who, the corporators alleged, “extort” money from vehicle owners. The civic body had been collecting parking charges from two-wheelers on a number of roads in the city, including F C Road, Shastri Road, Shivaji Road, J M Road, Deccan and Bajirao Road.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, Rajpal said, “We have withdrawn Pay-N-Park scheme for two-wheelers, as these vehicles constitute 80 per cent of vehicles in the city. The middle-class owns two-wheelers more than any other class in the city and has been burdened with parking charges. We have decided to scrap parking fee in response to the resentment of people against the scheme.”
In the meeting, corporators cutting across the party lines, including standing committee chairman Arvind Shinde (Congress), Anil Shirole (BJP), Shyam Deshpande (Shiv Sena) and Ulhas Bagul, expressed displeasure at the parking scheme. “Has the civic administration taken any action against parking contractors who extort money from citizens?” Shinde asked.
He said contractors place jammers on vehicles not parked in parking zones without any authority to do so.
Shyam Deshpande said, “Even though uniforms are mandatory for parking fee collectors, they are not seen wearing them. This is why credibility of PMC is on the wane.”
Meanwhile, the proposal tabled by corporators regarding scrapping of parking charges at multiplexes was forwarded for legal opinion. In Pimpri-Chinchwad, two-wheeler riders as well four-wheeler riders have free parking throughout the industrial town.
