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The organisers of IPL have made all efforts to ease the parking problem during the IPL matches in the City, considering the Metro work in BRV Grounds and the closure of Cubbon Road. The IPL match spectators have been asked to park their vehicles at St Joseph’s Indian High School Grounds and the Kanteerava Stadium while the VVIP parking is at the UB City.
Those parking at Indian High School Grounds and Kanteerava Stadium have to shell out Rs 60 for cars and Rs 30 for two-wheelers. The organisers have made nothing less than Rs 30,000 just as parking fee during the IPL matches till now. Five mini buses have been arranged to ferry spectators from the car park slot to the stadium. This service has been provided for free.
Metrolife interacts with a few people and asks them if they actually use the parking facility provided by the organisers and if it is a feasible idea.
Most people preferred to come by their own car and park somewhere in the vicinity and walk to the stadium, others got dropped off and asked to be picked up after the match. There were a few who caught a bus to the stadium. The first match on April 14 had only 16 bikes and 20 cars at the Kanteerava Stadium. The parking increased to 110 cars and 40 bikes during the second IPL match in the City. “The five mini buses that ferry people from the parking slot to the stadium act as a shuttle service, only during the IPL matches. They are jam-packed most of the time,” says Arun Kumar, the parking attendant who gets paid Rs 250 for managing the parking between 5 pm and 11 pm on match days.
The organisers say that they had zeroed in on the parking slot well in advance.
“Proximity was key. We had to see that people who didn’t want to take the bus, could walk to the venue,” says one of the IPL organisers. “The parking space at the UB City is only for those in the VVIP lounge,” he adds. Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Safety) Praveen Sood says, “Parking is chaotic during the matches and I notice that people now walk or have begun to use public transport to get to the stadium. This is a good change,” he observes.
However, most people weren’t aware of the parking provided by the organisers. Ramana and his family parked their car at Railway Parallel Road and took an auto to the stadium. “We anticipated that the parking would be a problem in and around the stadium. This is my wife Shashikala’s first visit to the stadium. It was disappointing that the match didn’t happen but the experience was different,” says Ramana. Madhu and Archana chose to park their vehicle in Cubbon Park and walk up to the stadium.
“Walking was a better option than scout around for parking near the stadium. This is our first visit to the stadium and we were looking forward to the match,” says Archana.
Samyukta and her son Aditya chose to be chauffeur-driven to and from the stadium. “I came in late, knowing that the match would be delayed. Parking is a major problem near the stadium and it’s impossible to walk in the rain. Killing time in the stadium was a challenge indeed,” she sums up.