Fearing encroachment if first facility of its kind in city remains idle, civic body asks builder to hand over parking lot only after it gets contractor to run service
The first multi-storey parking lot in the city is ready in Lower Parel, but the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is delaying taking possession of it from the private builder till it finds a contractor to run it. The reason is fear of encroachment.
Park avenues: The first multi-storey parking lot at Lower Parel. The BMC begins the process of inviting tenders to allot the contract to run the parking lot from January 1. Pic/Shadab Khan
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Sources from the BMC said that if the civic body takes possession before allotting the contract to run the parking lot, the facility will remain idle and lead to unwanted elements encroaching on the space.
In light of this argument, the BMC decided to let possession of the parking lot remain with the builder, Lodha Developers, until a contractor is finalised. “We told them (Lodha Developers) to keep the parking lot with them for the next two months as we have a security problem,” Additional Municipal Commissioner Aseem Gupta, who handles the parking lot issue, said.
Jan 1 opening
The BMC has in the meantime started the process of inviting tenders to allot the contract to run the parking lot from January 1.
“The parking lot will start from January 1 in the new year and the charges will be 50 per cent lower than normal street parking,” Gupta said. “The reason for keeping charges low is to encourage people to park their vehicles in the parking lot instead of resorting to roadside parking.”
The parking lot will be acquired by the BMC from Lodha Developers in Lower Parel against the grant of extra floor space index (FSI).
Fully automated
The parking lot is fully automated. An automatic ticketing system will allow vehicles to be scanned while entering the parking lot.
On its part, Lodha has assured the BMC that it will hand over the parking lot soon.
Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte has already visited the parking lot.
According to 33 (24) of the Development Control (DC) Regulation Policy, new construction on a plot of over 1,000 square metres in the island city and over 2,000 square metres in the suburbs will get additional FSI of up to 4 if the developer agrees to build public parking lots and hand over these to the BMC free of cost.
The original policy was introduced in 2008.
To avail of the benefit, over 70 developers approached the BMC and 11 got clearance from the civic body while 29 places have got the final nod from the government.
Responding to this policy, Lodha Developers had agreed to hand over to the BMC a parking lot with vehicle parking capacity of 689 in Lower Parel.
The BMC has already allotted contracts for pay-and-park zones on 92 roads while the state government is working to create more parking spaces.
“The state government has already approved 29 sites, under DC Regulation 33 (24), where about 30,000 public parking spaces will be available soon for the city,” Gupta said.
689
The vehicle parking capacity of the parking lotu00a0
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