Three more parking lots in central business district

The BBMP will shortly construct three multi-storeyed buildings in the city’s Central Business District (CBD) for vehicular parking. Congestion on roads will reduce once the buildings are functional as they accommodate large vehicles, said Home Minister G Parameshwara.“Besides, the Bengaluru police have taken up a drive to clear unclaimed vehicles parked in front of police stations. The police have already auctioned over 8,000 vehicles so far,” he told DH. The police, he said, are required to obtain permission from the court and auction the vehicles. “Most vehicles will be auctioned shortly based on the court’s permission,” the minister added.
Unclaimed vehicles and those seized after accidents are parked right in front of traffic police stations, clogging roads. There was a proposal to identity four big venues in the city to park the seized and unclaimed vehicles when K J George was Home Minister. However, the idea did not materialise.

In the past, police made an unsuccessful attempt to keep the unclaimed and seized vehicles at CAR grounds. The initiative failed as the grounds are used often for various training programmes. Many drivers have found a new way to park their vehicles cheaply. In areas around Majestic, they randomly park in no-parking zones and head to fetch their friends and relatives from the Central Bus Stand or the City railway station. On their return, they would pay Rs 100 as fine to the traffic police and head out.

“These people don’t even heed our warnings,” an Assistant Commissioner of Police (traffic) who served in Upparpet sub-division told DH. “They offer Rs 100 before we direct them to move away from the no parking area and demand receipt.”

For these drivers, this works out cheaper than parking in designated parking areas. “It means shelling more money and wasting more time in taking the cars out of the parking lots. Hence, they park on roads and manage the parking by paying the fine of Rs 100,” he said. Cars are often seen parked in no parking areas on premier roads in and around bus stands and railway station between 5.30 am and 7.30 am, said the police. The officer said either self-reformation or hefty fine for parking in no parking zones will ensure some discipline.

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