MiD-DAY campaign: One parking slot for every 70 cars

With the private vehicle count touching 2 million and only 30,000 slots on offer in all the parking lots, the city is in the throes of a snow-balling crisis

MiD-DAY campaign: One parking slot for every 70 cars

With the private vehicle count touching 2 million and only 30,000 slots on offer in all the parking lots, the city is in the throes of a snow-balling crisis

The perennial parking crisis in the city of Mumbai is old news.
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The city's parking lots set the example for mismanagement: honking cars jostle each other for space, hampering each other's passage, motorists out shout each other, cars and tempers fume in simultaneity.

But team MiD DAY's investigations have thrown up some alarming figures, which are sure to send alarm bells honking, for not just car owners, but all citizens.

Facts and figures
According to the Mumbai Traffic police, there are nearly 20.8 lakh cars plying in the city streets, of which 1.8 lakh cars have been registered in the past one year itself. As many as 583 vehicles are adding strength to these numbers every day.

And to cater to the parking needs of these two million vehicles, there are only 30,000 public parking spaces. Yes, you heard that right. Two million cars, 30,000 parking slots: Now do the mental math and you will hit upon an alarmingly skewed ratio: 70 vehicles to one parking slot.

At the BMC's 92 functioning parking lots in the city, under the 'pay and park' schemes, there is space to accommodate 10,314 vehicles.

Alongside this, there is space for 3,000-4,000 vehicles at the ward level parking lots. In addition to this, the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has 21 flyovers, under which parking is allowed.
These flyovers can accommodate nearly 10,000 vehicles.

The MMRDA also has three parking lots, with a capacity of 1,700 vehicles. Add to this the parking space available at the airports for 2,250 vehicles. Add it all up, and you will realise that the two million vehicles in the city are jostling for only 30,000 parking slots.

Officialspeak
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Nandkumar Chougale said, "Between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011, 1.70 lakh new vehicles were registered at the three regional transport offices (RTO) in Mumbai.

This is alarming, because we don't have enough parking space for such a dizzying number of automobiles. If the number of vehicles keep on increasing at this rate, then very soon a day will arrive when the Mumbai roads will come to a standstill."

Due to a parking space crunch in Central and South Mumbai, cabs and private bus owners often park illegally on the roads.

"Internationally, the permissible volume of vehicles per kilometre is 300. But in Mumbai, the volume of vehicles per kilometer is 900. This is an alarming figure, and speaks volumes about the severe proportions that the problem of road congestion has taken," said Chougale.

The BMC's Chief Engineer (Roads, bridges and traffic) Satish Badve said, "We have re-invited tenders for the existing 92 parking spots in the city. At the ward level, we provide temporary parking spaces every six months.
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For this, proposals are accepted only if perceived as feasible." However, he withheld comment on the parking crisis in the city, saying, "I am not the competent authority to speak on this, but to improve the parking situation, we are planning to build multi-level parking lots in the city.
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We have already obtained permission for five such parking lots," he said, adding,u00a0"These five spots will be able to collectively accommodate upto 592 cars.
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The most spacious car park would be constructed near Patkar College in Goregaon, with six levels, two of which are underground. This lot will have a capacity of 227 cars. A two level basement car parking lot would be coming up at Pali Hill in Bandra, which will have the capacity to hold 150 cars.
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Another will be constructed in Jogeshwari near the JVLR flyover. This will have 50-car capacity. The last one, in Nagpada will have space for 160 cars."

Dwindling parking space?
The BMC earlier had 94 parking lots, but two of them have been closed down recently due to security and traffic problems at Holiday Inn, Andheri, and Kemps Corner, respectively. BMC has seven fixed parking locations, the licenses of which are renewed on a yearly basis.
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They are situated on either side of the Dadar Flyover, in the routes of MSRTC buses between Mumbai and Pune, near the Times of India office, at K B Patil Marg, near the Hinduja Hospital and near the Bombay Gymkhana.

An official from the BMC's traffic department said, "Earlier there were over 100 parking lots in the city, but they have all been closed down due to security and traffic issues. At present, tenders have been re-invited for only 92 spots for the new schemes."

The growing problem of illegal parking is also an indicator of the fact that the city has no organised car parking plan in place. In the past one year, the Mumbai Traffic police have collected over Rs 25 crore as road violation penalty, which includes the fine collected for illegal parking.
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"The government agencies which charge excise duty on the manufacture of vehicles should think of ideas to tackle the parking problem. These agencies earn large revenues in the form of excise duty on vehicle manufacture. They should help in solving the problem," said a traffic police official.

MSRDC parking lots
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) has 21 parking lots under the flyovers, as part of its 'pay and park' scheme. They are located at Sion, BARC, Mankhurd, Nerul, Vashi, Dattapada (WEH), National Park, Kalina, Vakola , Jogeshwari Vikroli Link Road , Aarey , Kurla , CST, Chheda Nagar, AGLR, Vikhroli, JVLR, Cadbury Junction , Fergusson Road, Elphinstone Road.

MMRDA parking lots
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) has
constructed multi-level car parking lots at three locations in Mumbai. These are at Bandra Kurla Complex, Oshiwara and CR2 Nariman Point, with capacities of 800, 50, and 850 vehicles respectively.

Airport parking: Rs 36 for a plane Rs 130 for a car!

Here's the new shocker: it costs more to park your car in Mumbai than it does to park an aircraft.

With a parking capacity of 750 vehicles at the domestic terminal and 1,500 at the international terminus, the Mumbai airport approximately accommodates 30,000 cars every day, each of which pay parking charges at the rate of Rs 130 per hour.
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This is a rich source of revenue for the airport, which rakes in approximately Rs 40 lakhs, per day, simply from parked cars.

According to a parking supervisor at the Mumbai International airport, "It will be very difficult to gauge the exact number of vehicles coming into the airport every day. I can estimate that the number is around 15-18,000."

Compare this with the charges levied on planes that are parked at the station. An ATR model aircraft, which approximately weighs around 20 metric tonne and has the capacity to accommodate around 50 people, pays approximately Rs 36 per hour as parking charges.

This is in accordance with the rates set by the Airport Authority of Indiau00a0 (AAI), fixed at Rs 1.80 parking charge per metre. On the other hand, an SUV like the Mahindra Scorpio, which weighs approximately 2,510 kg, when parked at the international or domestic airport, will cost you Rs 60 for the first half hour and Rs 130 for an hour.

Reference
The data for airport parking has been sourced from the website maintained by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) at www.aai.aero/misc/Airport_Charges.jsp.

The data regarding airport vehicle parking has been sourced from the Mumbai airport's official website at https://www.csia.in/

Experts speak
Transport expert Sudhir Badami said, "Car parking in Mumbai is a perennial problem. The only solution is to encourage more people to use public transport.

This can only be practicable if a Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS) is implemented in Mumbai. India ranks fourth in the list of countries with high carbon emission rates. In Europe, the government charges high rates for car parking, fearing which motorists opt for public transport.

The government can also implement this method in Mumbai. By constructing multi-level car parking zones, the authorities are inviting people to buy more cars."

Road expert Ashok Datar agreed with Badami, saying, "One solution to the parking crisis is to increase the charges levied for parking.

This will motivate car-owners to use public transport. More than 1.5 lakh car owners park their cars free of cost at the free parking zones in Mumbai, and this only encourages them to purchase cars.
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The government should convert all free parking zones into paid parking zones. The rates of parking at these locations should be doubled."

Datar further added, "There are approximately 10,000 MCGM parking slots in the city. A minimum of another 50,000 slots is required, if the parking problem is to be solved even marginally. It is high time that the government takes the issue seriously, or things will get out of hand.

At present there is obviously a dearth of parking space in Mumbai. It is not just the BMC's responsibility, but also of the citizen to ensure that he or she parks the car in a proper manner, so as not to block another car's passage. Car parks need to be managed more efficiently."

Did you know?
17.19 lakh new vehicles were registered in Maharashtra between April 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011

Parking Rates

MMRDA
Charges for the first one hour is Rs 17, and Rs 12 is charged for every additional hour, for all vehicles.

MSRDC
Charges are Rs 5 for the first one hour for four wheelers, Rs 10 for buses, Rs 2 for three wheelers, and Rs 1 for two wheelers.

BMC
Charges are Rs 5 for the first one hour for two wheelers, and an additional Rs 5 for every additional two hours.
Charges are Rs 10 for the first one hour for four wheelers, and an additional Rs 5 for every additional two hours.

Airport
First 30 minutes: Rs 60
Upto 2 hours: Rs 130
Monthly parking charges for airlines and its staff:
Rs 175 for two wheelers
Rs 500 for four wheelers
Rs 10,000 + service tax for other vehicles

Voices
Gaurav Gupta, a resident of Borivli said, "Finding space for parking is so very difficult. The government should do something about the crisis."

Molina Nadkarni, a resident of Andheri, said, "There are no proper guidelines to regulate car parking. One can never be sure that the car is safe."

Amit Vengurlekar, a resident of Bandra (West), "Usually I don't face too much difficulty in parking my two-wheeler. I just need a little empty space. But then again, there is the danger of my bike being towed away."

Trishnil Sadadekar, a resident of Lokhandwala, said, "There is no parking space in the city. To make matters worse, we aren't sure that our vehicles are safe, even if we pay the parking lot authorities. The lots are extremely cramped, and often we find that our way out of the lot is obstructed by other cars."

Narain Sugand, who owns a garment store in south Mumbai, said, "The BMC should earmark areas for parking, specially near market places. Our business suffers due to lack of adequate car parking space near markets."

Anil Kolekar, a resident of Goregaon, said, "I always think of purchasing a car, but I am wary of taking the plunge, because of the skyrocketing parking rates in the city, not to mention the frequent hikes in petrol prices."

Did you know?
MSRDC's 21 flyovers in the city can provide parking space for nearly 10,000 cars

With inputs by Varun Singh, Rinkita Gurav, Ranjeet Jadhav, Chetna Yerunkar. Pics/Shadab Khan