Bengaluru: Multi-level car parking facilities remain unused

Nearly 18 months after the completion of the multi-level car parking (MLCP) facility at Freedom Park, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) is struggling to operationalise the facility because no company has shown interest in operating the facility. In the past year, four tenders were announced, but none have been picked up so far.

In a last-ditch attempt to get the facility up and running, BBMP is planning to introduce electric buggies that will ferry those using the parking facility to nearby destinations in the shopping areas. 

“We noticed people were not comfortable parking the vehicles and walking to the shopping areas. Hence, we are planning to introduce buggies. This way, once the facility is operational, the revenue will be high,” said B S Prahalad, BBMP Chief Engineer (Road Infrastructure).

The officials are also in discussions with the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) to declare a 2km radius around the facility as a ‘no parking’ zone to ensure that people visiting the area do not park on the streets. 

Why no takers?

While the BBMP is chalking out measures to put the facility to use, the situation has raised larger questions on the need for such facilities even as the other MLCPs in the city continue to witness low utilisation. For instance, the MLCP on JC Road is less than half occupied at any point in time and the workers at the facility said that they see many of them park their vehicles on the street right in front of the facility. Though the parking facility on KG Road was occupied, workers pointed out that the decision to mark the surrounding streets as ‘no parking’ zones had helped. 

“The traffic police penalise those parking on the road here, but that is not always the case. Most of them who park here go out only for a short duration and hence they tend to take a chance with the cops,” said a worker at the JC Road parking facility.

Activists pointed out that BBMP’s failure to implement the parking policy was hampering the use of these facilities and encouraging the use of private vehicles.

“It is obvious that no one will use the parking facility if they can easily park their vehicles on the street for free. The BBMP has failed to implement Parking Policy 2.0 and, as a result, people continue to park on streets. In fact, the civic body should not construct MLCPs and let private traders or complexes build facilities for their customers. It is not the civic body’s responsibility,” said Satya Sankaran, mobility activist. 

Public transport a priority

Officials from the Directorate of Urban Land Transport (DULT) said that they have prepared and submitted an area parking plan for every locality in the city and the BBMP is yet to implement it. The policy was approved by the state government nearly two years back.

Experts were divided on the usefulness of MLCPs. Dr Ashish Verma, Associate Professor of the Department of Civil Engineering (Transportation Systems) of IISc, opined that through MLCPs, BBMP is encouraging the use of private vehicles.

“The MLCPs should not be constructed as a demand management solution. The government should discourage the use of private vehicles. The civic bodies should not construct MLCP in core areas but instead chalk out plans to build parking facilities in the outer areas, especially close to metro stations, to enable people to commute to core areas,” he said. 

However, traffic expert Prof M N Sreehari said that the MLCPs could resolve traffic problems in the city if they are put to good use. 

“While MLCPs may be a good idea to manage the huge number of vehicles, it will not work unless BBMP strictly prohibits parking on the streets. Today most of the streets are occupied with parked vehicles and this is making traffic flow difficult. All these parked vehicles should be forced to use the MLCP,” he said.

The traders around Freedom Park urged the BBMP to operationalise the facility soon.

While a few were not sure if the facility would be of much help, few others opined that it might eventually attract people. The traders suggested that the BBMP could work out the modalities for the use of buggies once the facility is operational.

“Since the facility is already constructed, they should get it running. Once it is operational, they will understand the advancements required and can make further upgrades. Getting it running should be the priority,” said Sajjan Raj Mehta, a trade activist.

Policy interventions needed: BBMP chief  BBMP Chief Commissioner Tushar Girinath said that the civic body is working on policy-level interventions.  “It has come to my notice that the parking facilities in the city are not being utilised to their full potential. We also need to get the new facility at Freedom Park running. There are a few policy interventions needed and we will discuss this with Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and draw up a plan. We will also have to look at better enforcement. We will discuss this with the other departments” Girinath said.