20% of parking space on 85 roads could be reserved for women

Twenty percent of the parking space on 85 roads in the city could be reserved for women. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has already announced the scheme for Church Street.

Mayor R Sampath Raj said the proposal to bring more under roads under the scheme was aimed at ensuring the safety of women.

A BBMP council meeting in 2013 had decided to monetise the parking system. But the civic body to failed to attract bidders in 2014-2015. It invited tenders a third time recently. Central Parking Services, a Bengaluru-headquartered parking management firm, has won the contract. The firm is already managing the parking in Pune and Indore, a senior official in the BBMP said. The company will pay Rs 31.5 crore to the BBMP.

Around 85 roads have been identified for the smart parking facility. They have been divided into ‘A’ (premium), ‘B’ (commercial) and ‘C’ (general) categories. There 14 roads in ‘A’, 25 in ‘B’ and 46 roads in ‘C’ categories. In all, 3,600 cars and 10,000 two-wheelers can be parked on 85 roads.

MG Road, Brigade Road, Raja Rammohun Roy Road, Vittal Mallya Road and Kasturba Road are some of the roads under the ‘A’ category. Nrupathunga Road, Dhanvantari Road, Kalidasa Road, Ali Asker Road and St John’s Road come under ‘B’ category while Ibrahim Sahib Street, Wood Street, Castle Road, Brunton Road and Shivaji Road are among ‘C’ category roads.

Sampath Raj said an app was also in the works. Vehicle users can download the app to find parking space. There will be 10 minutes for parking in a particular spot through the app. Sensors installed at each place will record as to how long a vehicle has been parked. “The project will be approved at the next council meeting,” the mayor added.

DH News Service