Parking lot opened

A sophisticated parking lot has been developed for the benefit of passengers near the second gate of the city railway station on KRS road.

Speaking to the media after dedicating the facility on Friday, Vinod Kumar, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), South Western Railway (SWR), Mysore division said the parking lot spread over an area of 1,500 square feet, has been developed at the cost of Rs 25 lakh. It can accommodate 350 two-wheelers and 35-40 four wheelers. It will be manned by a contractor, who will be charge Rs two for bicycles, Rs four for motorcycles and Rs 10 for four-wheelers. Railways intends to raise a revenue of Rs 40,000 per month in the form of a licence fee.

A fully-developed parking lot had become inevitable after the second gate was opened in the interest of increasing passengers a year ago. Of the total passenger traffic calculated at 30,000 per day, 25 pc utilise the second gate for entry and exit. Earlier, the lot was filled with weeds and shrubs, with people utilising the space for parking without paying any charge. The parking lot at the main gate is spread over 3,000 square feet of land, having the capacity to accommodate a fleet of 1,000 two-wheelers.

While the parking woes has been addressed, the next thing the railway authorities will focus on is a pre-paid autorickshaw facility. In the existing set up, it is only at the main gate from JLB road side, where three pre-paid autorickshaw counters have been catering to over 1,000 passengers round the clock.

If a similar facility is introduced at the second gate too, it would help check innocent passengers being swindled and also reduce the chaos, divisional railway manager added.
In addition to that the Railways wants traffic police to allow U-turn facility from the KRS road side (opposite CFTRI gate) to the second gate. Now, the U-turn is available on the same stretch, but after moving a distance from the very junction near LIC office.

If the U-turn facility is created by connecting the road leading to second gate, it would mitigate the possibilities of mishaps with an electric pole on a mount of soil, inviting danger. It would be better, if the electric pole with precariously hanging wires too is shifted to a nearby place.