1 parking spot for every 120 vehicles

If you own a car or a bike you know that parking space does not come easy in this city And if you have been in a parking row you know that the aforesaid is a galling understatement Finding one is like winning a battle often more than once every day And why shouldnrsquot it be For the nearly 20 lakh vehicles plying on the cityrsquos roads we have less than 150 legal lots operated by government agencies municipal corporation railways the MMRDA and the MSRDC all put togetheru00a0 The disparity which has vastly jacked up parking charges has also established parking scuffles as routine phenomena among citizens and parking attendants even as authorities seem to be looking the other wayu00a0 Sparse space The number of vehicles has gone up from 1768 lakh in March 2010 to 199 lakh up to December 2011 ldquoWith the addition of vehicles from Thane and Navi Mumbai the number has drastically increased Parking is one of the most important problems One wrongly parked vehicle can take up an entire lanerdquo said Brijesh Singh joint commissioner of police traffic Civic allotment The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC has allotted 211467 sq m of space for cars and 3195 sq m for twowheelers The figure may seem large what with the dearth of space but a closer look reveals it is woefully inadequate to accommodate the parking needs of so many citizens Incidentally these parking lots yield revenue close to Rs 11 crore As per the BMCrsquos calculations a car or jeep would require a slot of 1375 sq m space for parking while a twowheeler would need 288 sq m This would mean that there is space available for not more than 15380 fourwheelers and 1109 twowheelers in the lots provided by the corporation Other agencies The parking lots available with the railways Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority MMRDA and the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation MSRDC within Mumbairsquos precincts are not enough to solve the problem The MMRDA that owns clutches of land around the city has allotted space for 800 vehicles to be parked at the business hub of BandraKurla Complex 850 vehicles at Nariman Point and 50 at Oshiwara MMRDA Joint Project Director Dilip Kawatkar said ldquoWe have provided ample parking space in the areas where we are the special planning authority There are multilevel car parkings at BKC and Nariman Point Other than that it is the job of other agencies to create parking spacesrdquo The MSRDC has lots at 17 different locations like JogeshwariVikhroli Link Road Sion Chheda Nagar Elphinstone Road and Vikhroli mainly below flyovers ldquoThese agencies can create premium parking spaces on prime roads like SV Road Link Road LBS Road and the two express highways They can have designated spaces where presently vehicles are illegally parked or charged exorbitantlyrdquo said Jagdeep Desai member Forum for Improving Quality of Life in Mumbai and Suburbs There are around 15 parking lots provided by both Western and Central Railways in Greater Mumbai up to Dahisar and Mulund stations The railway provide parking beyond the suburbs as well right up to Dahanu road WR and Khopoli and Panvel CR The earnings of the railways are just about Rs 3 crore from parking lots Railway officials claim that the parking lots are housed on the railway land and mainly provide respite to owners of twowheelers who generally park outside stations As per available figures there are three stations in Mumbai mdash Kurla LTT Mulund and Mankhurd mdash where the CR has allotted around 1700 sq m of land for parking The remaining lots go beyond Thane and Vashi on Central Main and Harbour lines ldquoThe high market rate of land makes it difficult for us to identify contractors who would start parking lots on railway land in the cityrdquo said a railway official on condition of anonymity A host of factors has contributed to the situation that now faces the city Stalled development Transport experts claim that there has been negligible development as far as underground or multilevel parking lots are concerned ldquoItrsquos been so many years yet the government hasnrsquot provided sufficient number of multilevel parking lots When they collect so much tax on vehicles they should also provide infrastructure for parkingrdquo said Nitin Dossa of Western India Automobile Association A senior government official on condition of anonymity said that the state government should think of broadening the scope of multistory parking as it is happening halfheartedly in selective areas ldquoThe government should look at giving additional floor space index FSI for buildings so they can build multilevel parking Taxes for parking should also be hiked officiallyrdquo said a senior government official The pitiable condition of public transport has made sure that more private vehicles are piled on to the existing numbers The overcrowded railways carrying 70 lakh commuters have seen several glitches of late The fragile fleet of BEST buses which carries 39 lakh passengers has witnessed more accidents recently than it has breakdowns which are frequent The taxis and auto rickshaws may be slightly better but the drivers illrenowned for their arrogant fleecing and whimsical ways make up for what little credit may be given to them As such the public modes of transport provide little incentive to citizens to give up private vehicles ldquoResidential complexes can come together to pool in for valet drivers who can park at selective locations Also there is a need for improving mass transport projects Options of car pooling should also be seriously consideredrdquo said Beena Balkrishanan transport expert who had prepared a detailed report on parking issues in the city Need for disincentives Some say that parking rates and penalties should be hiked at premium locations and prime business districts This would not only reduce the scope for illegal parking but also rake in more revenues for the government RTO officials claim that this could also help in improving the practice of car pooling in the city Apart from this it would also eradicate the practice of illegally overcharging followed by contractors There are different rates applicable at different locations around the city Rajesh Dalvi an officegoer at Malad said ldquoThe contractor charges Rs 50 as the minimum charge for parking on the open road which is skyhighrdquo As a deterrent for potential car buyers the government has hiked the cost of vehicles Petrol vehicles priced at less than Rs 10 lakh will attract 9 per cent tax Those priced between Rs 1020 lakh will attract 10 per cent tax And vehicles costing more than Rs 20 lakh will attract 11 per cent taxu00a0 199 lakh The number of vehicles on Mumbairsquos roads till Dec 2011 211467 Space allotted in square metres by the BMC for car parking 3195 Space allotted in square metres by BMC to park twowheelersu00a0 Spots of bother for motorists Location Rasraj Nullah near Mithibai College Vile Parle West I find it extremely difficult to find parking on this road during evening hours and weekends On an average I have to drive around for 15 minutes till I find a spot for my car Since there are restaurants on these roads most of the space is usurped by them for valet parking Moreover there is a bus stop on the road making it impossible for car owners to park within a few metres of it I have to drive till the MGCMrsquos payandpark facility nearby or the Juhu Scheme In spite of a parking lot available here there is constant fear that vehicles may be towed away Hence one person has to sit in the car we canrsquot leave the vehicle vacant Dweep Mehta 24 CA A lot of luxury buses are parked around Mithibai College thus leaving very little space for cars Today I saw authorities towing away parked bikes of students who had gone in the college to appear for their law examination I went and interrupted them saying that there was no board of lsquono parkingrsquo in the area and hence it was unacceptable of them to tow the vehicles Such is the sad state of affairs here Swati Gala lawyer It is very difficult to find parking on this road during peak hours and weekends One has to keep driving up and down for a long time till one finds parking space Dhriti Kundalia 23 law student Location Balraj Sahani Marg Juhu Parking area at Balraj Sahani Marg is mainly used by people visiting the beach or tourists coming to posh hotels and restaurants nearby We charge according to the number of hours the vehicles are parked Otherwise we charge Rs 65 for a fourwheeler and Rs 35 for a twowheeler for a day Manoj Pandey parking incharge There is hardly any place inside the hotel so we park vehicles on the road Jayant Sarkar owner of a tourist car In the morning it is really difficult to find a place to park Joaquim Lobou00a0driver of a tourist car Location New Prabhadevi Road near Marathi Bhavan This is the only parking lot near Siddhivinayak temple Devotees park their vehicles here and walk all the way to the temple Buildings and corporate offices adjacent to it do not have parking spaces on their premises so residents and employees also leave their vehicles here I have no problem parking my car on the road I don39t want to blame anyone because the building has been constructed in such a way that there is hardly any space for parking My car is safe and very well sheltered by the parking incharge Sunny Puthran resident We charge Rs 50 per day while the monthly fee is Rs 1500 per vehicle Vijay Varadkaru00a0parking incharge There is no parking inside our building So I have to park my vehicle on the road Apart from parking fees I have to wait at least 20 minutes to search for space for my car Shashikaran Kadam resident of Raj Cooperative Society Location Churchgate Regal Cinema It is virtually impossible to find parking space in South Mumbai during peak hours People fortunate enough to have drivers are spared the taxing chore Others are forced to park a kilometer away from their destination Adding to the frustration is the high parking rates In busy areas outside the Taj Hotel and Breach Candy parking rates are Rs 20 per hour In Colaba though it is supposed to be Rs 10 per hour in peak hours drivers are charged Rs 30 per Roads A B C D and E in front of Churchgate station provide free parking for several vehicles I had to fight with parking attendants outside Regal Cinema to bring the charge down to Rs 20 when they said I had to pay Rs 30 per hour Dinesh Lad driver who had doubleparked The parking places around the High Court are always congested Finding a place here is like a miracle Vijay Tiwari driver I had parked my car next to Phoenix Mills in Mahalaxmi and when I returned later I noticed several scratches on my car Srinivas Sharma employee in a private company in Mahalaxmi Parking on any one of these Roads A B C D and E is convenient for me but nothing is certain There are times when it took me more than an hour to find a parking spot here Anil Kumar Mandal driver Recently my bike got towed from Road A as I wasn39t aware that parking wasn39t allowed here The noparking signs are not in clear sight they are hidden behind trees Vivek Yadav college student Location MHADA office Kalanagar Bandra East Considering that we have parking space for 50 cars and 100 two wheelers managing vehicles is not an issue mdash BMC parking attendant Being a frequent visitor at the MHADA office whenever I come here I always face parking problems At times I have to wait for over 30 minutes to get a parking space as the BMC payu00a0and park area is packed to capacity in the mornings I feel that there should be a proper parking arrangement in the area as parking vehicles at other places increases the risk of theft mdash Parag Bhargav motorist At times these attendants charge us extra When we ask for a receipt they tell us that there is no parking space left in the area and that we should park our vehicle somewhere else mdash Pravin Thorat motorist Short on parking space The parking area provided by the BMC in different wards in sq mu00a0u00a0 Rate card A board specifying parking charges at a contractual payandpark facility outside MHADA office in Bandrau00a0