The Indian Express            12.12.2013  

Residents may get to park at malls at lower rates

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s proposed parking policy that
seeks to raise fees for the facility by roughly 300 per cent at popular
spaces has been approved by the group leaders of political parties in
the civic body.

According in-principle approval Wednesday, the leaders suggested
that residents be given the right to park their vehicles during night at
malls and public-private-parking lots (PPLs) constructed by developers
under Section 33 (24) of the Development Control Regulations, at
residential rates.

“The parking rates will remain the same. We are looking at
bringing a fresh policy by incorporating the suggestion from the leaders
and the people of the city,” said Mayor Sunil Prabhu.

Samajwadi Party leader Rais Shaikh said, “We are fine with higher
charges as long as it is done legally and fairly. At many places,
residents do not have space to park their vehicles and are charged
exorbitant fees by malls and other private establishments for
night-parking. We understand the issue of traffic but are concerned that
an idealist parking policy may not be properly implemented with the
existing infrastructure. Hence, we have suggested some of these measures
to the civic administration.”

Around two weeks ago, the civic improvements committee rejected
the parking policy citing the proposed increase in fares as too high for
the common man. The committee referred the proposal back to the BMC and
asked the administration to reduce the rates. However, citing space
constraints and traffic problems, the BMC said reducing the fares would
not be an option.

Additional Municipal Commissioner SVR Srinivas said, “The
clearance given to the policy by the group leaders is a positive
development. We are now working on implementing their suggestions in the
policy before it is re-submitted to the improvements committee.”

Till date, the civic body has approved of 32 PPLs, of which 26
have received letters of intent (LoI) while 11 have received
commencement certificates (CC). According to the revised DCR, a PPL (of
over 700 sq m built-up area) can be constructed on a minimum plot size
of 1,000 sq m in the island city or 2,000 sq m in the suburbs. The PPL
must accommodate at least 50 cars. As an incentive, an additional 40 per
cent Floor Space Index (FSI) is granted to builders. An incentive of 50
per cent FSI is granted for lots constructed near railway stations,
government offices, and religious or tourists spots (with a cap of 4 FSI
for island city and 3 for suburbs).

Leaders have also suggested that policy be uploaded on the BMC website
and its page on Facebook for public access. Other suggestions include
giving the BMC responsibility for monitoring illegal street parking
during the daytime, procuring an NOC (No objection certificate) for
street parking in front of buildings from the residential societies
concerned, and retrieving BMC-owned parking spots that have been lost to
private players.