PUNE: Parking
bikes and cars on roads at night can soon be a pricey affair with the Pune
Municipal Corporation drafting
a new policy to charge people for parking vehicles on streets.
The elected members of the civic body will take a call on the policy in the
standing committee meeting on Tuesday.
The night-time parking rates have been fixed in the proposal
on the basis of the demand for parking space in a particular area. After a
six-month survey, the areas were categorized into Zone A (less demand), Zone B
(good demand) and Zone C (very high demand).
According to the proposal, citizens will have to pay the
parking fee between 10 pm and 8am. Parking a car on a road in the city areas
will cost Rs 18,250 (Rs 50 a night) per annum. The annual cost of parking near
old buildings and wadas will be Rs 9,125 (Rs 25 per night). The parking charges
for roads around slum areas will be around Rs 4,562 (Rs12.50 each night) per
year.
Passenger auto rickshaws and such paratransit (when parked in
designated lots meant for their parking), ambulances, vehicles of specially-abled
people, bicycles and Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited buses are
exempted from parking charges.
According to the corporation officials, the parking charges
have been defined on the basis of the guiding principles laid out in the
parking policy, which states "on-street parking shall have higher parking
charges than off-street parking." The policy also states that while
"designing streets, priority shall be given to the movement of
pedestrians, cyclists, public transport, public spaces and then to motor
vehicles". Parking can be accommodated in the remaining space, it states.
Unless you improve the condition of public transport in the
city these NGOs have no right to stop a person from buying vehicles - Alex
Dmello
Sujit Patwardhan of Parisar organization said, "The move
to introduce heavy parking charges is a good initiative to discourage the use
of private vehicles. The measures to reduce private vehicles and increase the
public transport should be taken simultaneously."
Prashant Inamdar of Pedestrians' First said imposing charges
for using public space for parking was a step in the right direction.
"People need to understand that public space like roads cannot be used for
free to park private vehicles. Ideally, there should be a rule not allowing a
person to buy a vehicle unless he/she has a dedicated space to park it."
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