The Hindu
MANGALORE, May 7: If you want to shop on K.S. Rao Road, G.H.S. Road or in the Hampankatta area, the first question that arises in your mind is where to park your car. Lucky are those who can get a space and walk into the shop of their choice. That is the reality in the surroundings of Central Market, P.V.S. Circle, the area around Milagres Pre-University College on Falnir Road, Lower Bendoor and the KSRTC bus-stand area in Bejai. “Whenever I drive on Arya Samaj Road, the main problem I face is finding a place to park my car. There is absolutely no parking space on this road,” said Rajendra Kalbavi, chairman, Mangalore centre of the Association of Consulting Civil Engineers (India). With more vehicles being added every day and the number of commercial complexes and residential flats increasing, the parking problem has emerged as a challenge to city planners.
If officials of the corporation had strictly enforced the building bylaws, the parking problem in commercial and residential areas could have been contained to some extent, said Mr. Kalbavi. They should have checked if the constructions had been made according to the building plan. “Builders of some high-rise buildings have not followed the National Building Code with regard to setback area, parking and open-air provision,” he said.
Katta Venkatramana, a professor of civil engineering at the National Institute of Technology - Karnataka, Surathakal, said that the corporation could create common parking facility in commercial areas. Mr. Venkatramana headed a technical committee constituted by the corporation for revising its building bylaws. The committee submitted its draft recommendations in December, 2006. “The corporation did not accept the committee’s recommendations on zonal regulations, including parking. The committee had recommended more parking space. But the corporation has retained the zonal regulations of 1992,” he said. Based on the committee’s recommendations, the corporation published its building draft bylaws of 2007 and has invited objections for the same.
“We will hear the objections after the Assembly elections,” said P.K. Subbaiah, Commissioner of the corporation. The Commissioner said the corporation was planning to have a comprehensive plan for parking with the concurrence of the elected council.
The corporation was aware that in the central market area, people found little space for parking as vehicles of shopkeepers occupied maximum space. The plan would cover creation parking space in market areas, bus-stands and railway stations, he said. As per the draft building bylaws, there should be provision for one car parking space of 3 m x 6 m for every four rooms in the case of hotels and tourist homes, three car parking spaces for 10 beds in nursing homes and hospitals and one car parking space for every 20 sq. m of floor area in restaurants.Reacting to this, Niren Jain, an architect, said that this was not adequate. However, if the zonal regulations failed to take into account the ground realities, a situation was bound to arise where the need for parking areas would be taken care of. “It is a market driven necessity,” he said and added that builders would be forced to create more parking space to attract clients.
Till that happens, people will have to bear with footpaths occupied by vehicles and keep walking in the middle of the road.