Car Parking is
the end of hour in Mumbai
Mr. Hemant Shah, Chairman,
Akruti Nirman
Mumbai, the
financial capital of the country is constantly overburdened with an
increase in population of people. Moreover the affordability and
availability of automobiles is increasing day by day. These factors
have assured that the population of cares increases constantly to
the result that everyday over 300 cars are added to the total car
strength of the city. Presently the number of vehicles hovers around
15-17 lakhs. Mumbai is struggling to accommodate these ever
increasing vehicles within its geographical boundaries. The question
that has to be answered at this point of time is - where will all
these extra cars park ?
The lack of parking
space in Mumbai is currently one o the most pressing problems faced
by the government and felt by each and every Mumbaikar. Inspite of
constructing more flyovers, free-ways and sea-link for free flow of
traffic, it's difficult to accommodate and park these vehicles. This
paucity of parking space often results in people parking their
vehicles on busy roads thereby reducing the road capacity to almost
half because of which people spend double the time required for
commuting. This has resulted into reduction in speed, hindrance to
pedestrian movements and bus movement, traffic jams, increase in
pollution, increase in pavement hawkers the deterioration of
environment.
Often parking space
is not given due consideration at the stage of planning the
buildings or shopping malls. In some buildings even well planned
parking spaces are being misused and converted into shops and
go-downs. It is also commonly seen that some buildings and housing
societies reserve the entire parking space, and the visitors end up
parking on the streets and often run into trouble by parking around
no-parking zones.
Multi-storey car
parks and construction of pay-and-park centres is the answer to some
of these problems.
In an attempt to
find solutions to the choked parking spaces, five types of Parking
Systems have been propose by MMRDA. The five parking systems are
multi-storeyed car parking complex, Hydraulic Lifting System,
Elevator type or Tower parking system, Puzzle type and Vertical
Rotary type.
Modern Technology
has made it possible to park 50 cars in space of 3 car space !!
Once more and more
of these are put up and can be manufactured in India, the costs are
bound to be lower and the systems will become more affordable.
The need of the hour
is that the Corporation must make such infrastructure necessities to
be encouraged and made compulsory in every area.
Though India is late
by a century to adopt to these basic needs of the City, in a way we
are lucky. Now India will get the latest and Best at most economical
costs.
Updated
on 6th September 2005
