Will look into parking fee at malls: T R Suresh

Mangaluru City Police Commissioner T R Suresh has promised to look into the provisions under law to check if malls are permitted to collect fees from customers for parking their vehicles.

A citizen who called during the phone-in programme at the office of the Commissionerate of Police complained that the malls in the city were charging exorbitant fees from customers to park their vehicles on the mall premises and called the collection illegal.

The commissioner said that malls everywhere charged fees for parking customers’ vehicles. “We will still examine if there is any provision under the law for malls to collect fees,” he promised.

The phone-in programme continued for an hour and complaints on vehicles encroaching upon footpaths, lack of street lights, stray dog menace, dumping of garbage beside the roads, and the need to lay speed breakers on some roads were received.

Crossing the road

A caller said that pedestrians find it difficult to cross the road in the city, especially near Town Hall. DCP (Crime and Traffic) Uma Prashanth promised to look into the possibility of marking a pedestrian crossing.

A caller from Lal Bahadur Shastri Layout demanded that a speed breaker be laid in the area to prevent accidents and the police commissioner promised to look into the matter.

A citizen said that the footpaths from Karavali Circle till Fr Muller’s Hospital have been encroached upon by vehicles, forcing pedestrians to walk on the road and risk their lives. The commissioner directed DCP Uma Prashanth to get the footpaths cleared of the vehicles.

Another called complained on the parking of vehicles on both sides of the GHS Road, causing inconvenience to the movement of vehicles.

Speed breakers

A Surathkal citizen demanded that speed breakers be laid on the Surathkal beach road near Sadashivanagara Third Cross as several two-wheelers and four-wheelers have been travelling on the stretch to avoid payment of toll at the Surathkal gate. Rash driving and increase in traffic has led to several accidents in the area, the citizen complained.

When a caller appealed to the commissioner to introduce one-way traffic movement from Pumpwell Junction to Fr Muller’s Hospital, Suresh said that there was stiff opposition from the public when such a system was introduced on the stretch. The commissioner, however, later directed Uma Prashanth to look into the possibility of introducing alternative parking on the stretch.

A caller from Kumpala complained that four buses that provide service in the city from Kunapa were old and there was need to replace such buses. Uma Prashanth said that, as per the inspection conducted by the authorities, no bus older than 15 years is seen operating in the city.