Mangalore; Sept 02: When the issue of lack of parking space in the city finds no solution, people park their vehicles, wherever there is space. Be it a footpath, road or bus bay, people park their vehicle as most of the buildings in the city do not have parking space.
Parking space is mandatory as per the Karnataka Municipal Act. This rule seems to be given the goby near convention/marriage halls in the city. Hundreds of people take part during marriage ceremonies or prominent conventions in such halls.However, most such convention/marriage halls do not provide parking place. As a result, people who arrive at the spot, park their vehicles either on footpath or on the road, putting pedestrians to inconvenience.
Social worker BNR Rao said that some people park vehicles on the busy streets or any other places near their commercial establishments or residential areas without any concern for the inconvenience caused to fellow citizens.
“Be it the busy MG Road, KS Rao Road or Bunts Hostel Road, almost 50% of the motor able space is occupied by private vehicles parked haphazardly. During peak hours, it takes more than 30 minutes to drive from PVS junction to Bunts Hostel Road, which normally should take 5-8 minutes. Though there are enough laws by the traffic and police department regarding parking, no one has the civic sense to respect those laws. Even traffic department does not enforce laws and that has resulted in this terrible mess,” Rao said adding that most of the commercial complexes do not have the mandatory parking space and, the district administration only makes noise once a while.
Meanwhile, S Reena, a teacher, said: “it is the duty of the city corporation to ensure sufficient parking place in each building in the city. They should make it mandatory before approving the building plan. People should start using public transportation to reduce the parking issues.”
However, G V Subramanya, ACP, Mangalore city police said that “we will direct all convention/marriage halls in the city to ensure proper parking place on their premises. At present, we collect Rs 100 as penalty for parking rule violation. We will continue to act against violators.”
TOI
