'No parking space at commercial complex'

CMC member says owners show cellars as parking lots, rent out space for shops

The cellars of commercial complexes should provide parking facilities for the vehicles of the consumers, said City Municipal Council member Chummi Devaiah.

“Owners of complexes who fail to provide proper parking space should not be given permission,” he added, speaking at the CMC meeting here on Saturday.

Devaiah said that a majority of the residents in town use either two-wheelers or four-wheelers. “Many of the residents face inconvenience as the complexes have no proper parking facilities. The building plan of a commercial complex shows the cellar as the parking space for the vehicles, while applying for permission from the CMC. After availing the permission, however, the cellar is rented out for shops,” he pointed out.

“The immediate past Deputy Commissioner Anurag Tewari had tried to solve the row over parking in town. A committee of officials from the Madikeri Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and the CMC were formed and were ordered to verify the cellars of 14 commercial complexes. If the parking problem is not solved in Madikeri now, then we will have to resort to odd-even scheme to control the traffic system in the future,” he reminded.

‘Action needed’
CMC member P D Ponnappa concurred that action should be initiated against those violate the rules on parking space in commercial buildings.

City Municipality Commissioner Pushpavathi admitted that banks and other commercial agencies have failed to provide parking facilities to the customers in their buildings.

“Some building owners park only their cars in the parking lot. The customers are not allowed to park their vehicles. With the help of police, the commercial establishments on the parking space of a building will be removed,” warned the official.

Raising the issue of encroachment of Sudarshan Circle land, members P D Ponnappa, K S Ramesh and P T Unnikrishna asked whether it was right on the part of a CMC member to encroach upon the land.

K S Ramesh said that buses and cars should not be allowed to park at Gandhi Maidan. “The maidan should be used as playground as well as for the walkers to walk,” said Ramesh.

Supporting the view, Ponnappa said that the maidan area should be extended.