Old socs puzzled over parking pitch

Mumbaikars Say Home Minister's Parking Warning Runs In The Face Of Paucity Of Space

Few can find flaw with home minister R R Patil's argument that garages must be used solely for parking rather than commercial activities or storage. However, the corollary that residents who park their cars on the road outside their compound will be penalized has caused heartburn in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, particularly within old societies that simply do not have parking space. The minister also plans to abolish parking beneath flyovers—spaces that serves the working population as well as shoppers. In fact it is car-owners who risk damage and theft by exposing their expensive vehicles to unwanted elements in this way. 

    Residents of buildings along narrow lanes in Walkeshwar have a longrunning battle with the BMC over parking. Matters reached a head in 2005 when the authorities demolished the compound wall of Dani Sadan building for a roadwidening project that has not taken off to this day. 

    "Most buildings in the area are around 50 years old; so, we can barely manage space for one car per flat. (For example) Surya Darshan building simply has no compound. It is necessary to park on the road," says Dani Sadan resident Daisy Zatakia. 

    Mumbai sorely lacks adequate pay-and-park facilities. Pradnya Morje is former secretary of the Kamana Cooperative Housing Society near Siddhivinayak temple. "We are not allowed to park on the road for security reasons, but often owners of new cars who arrive to get their vehicles blessed at the temple park there. An old ambulance is permanently stationed along the footpath as well," she says. 

    Morje does not deny that garages must be used exclusively for parking. But she says that residents of housing societies pay parking charges to the society, and property and road taxes, yet do not get a proper footpath to walk on due to encroachments. "Only residents of housing societies should not be penalized while other car owners are allowed to go scot free. Public transport should be made so effective that we can dispense with private vehicles," she says. 

    In Navi Mumbai, residents of Sector 17, Vashi, are the worst-affected as the old residential-cum-commercial complexes there face acute shortage of parking space. Shops attract several customers daily, leading to a sharp increase in vehicular traffic. Visitors to a local mall, too, park here to evade parking fee. 

    The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has failed to provide public parking space in Vashi and is yet to issue permission for multilevel parking decks within housing societies. A proposal to create a parking bay over an open nullah along Palm Beach Road is pending for lack of funds. Work on building a smaller parking lot over a sewage channel in Sector 16 has begun, but it will be some time before motorists' woes are solved. 

BMC'S PARKING RULES FOR HOUSING SOCIETIES 

    While buying a flat, one should keep in mind that parking is either stilt parking, which is in the basement of the building, or open parking 

    Find out from the builder if he/she is selling the space or not. By law, a builder can only sell flats. Unless the builder has used FSI in creating stilt parking, which is usually FSI-free, he cannot legally sell the space 

    By law, a builder can only sell flats that have been constructed with FSI. Open spaces such as terraces or parking lots have to be conveyed to the cooperative society 

As per Section 36 (2) of the Development Control Rules, in Malabar Hill, Cumballa Hill, Fort, Colaba, Pali Hill (Bandra), Juhu Vile Parle Development Scheme, Sassoon Docks and Jagmohandas Marg (Nepean Sea Road), one parking space is to be allotted for every: 

Tenement with a carpet area up to 45 sq m 2/3 tenement with carpet area exceeding 45 sq m, but not exceeding 100 sq m 1/2 tenement with carpet area exceeding 100 sq m In addition to parking spaces for these three categories, at least 25% of the entire parking space should be reserved for visitors 

In the rest of the island city, the suburbs and the extended suburbs, one parking space is to be allotted for every: 

    4 tenements with carpet area above 35 sq m 

    2 tenements with carpet area exceeding 45 sq m, but not exceeding 

70 sq m 

    1 tenement with carpet area exceeding 70 sq m 

    In addition to parking spaces for these three categories, at least 10% of the entire parking space should be reserved for visitors 

    Text: Sukhada Tatke 

    Creating multideck parking lots 

    within societies or public parking spaces will take both time and money. It is not something that can happen overnight. Playgrounds can definitely not be sacrificed for this. This is a difficult problem that calls for efficient planning and systematic execution. The authorities must first offer solutions and then think of taking action 

    Seema Pai | HOMEMAKER We taxpayers are waiting for the authorities to address more pertinent issues. Water tankers entering the Fourth Cross Lane in Lokhandwala Complex often turn back because they are unable to enter the compound owing to illegal parking by members of the gym in their lane 

Ketan Joshi | ANDHERI RESIDENT 

If the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation allots additional FSI or allows multilevel parking within societies, the parking problems of the city will be solved. Also, there is enough space below high-tension power lines to explore 

Leena Ahluwalia | NAVI MUMBAI RESIDENT