Nine months hence, a fully automated multi-level parking (MLP) system at Nampally will scrap the circus routinely performed by car owners to drive in and out of the parking lots, scratch-free.
Named NOVUM, the system can move cars up and down of the 15-floor building which can accommodate 250 cars in 10-floor parking. Three of the 15 floors will be underground, while five above the ground will be commercial spaces, constituting 35% of the built-up area.
Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMR), which has been entrusted the responsibility of developing 40 MLPs in the city, had failed to evoke proper response for the two previous tenders. The third time, two firms participated and a joint venture of Bhari Infra Private Limited and RCM Infrastructure won the bid.
Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi and HMRL Managing Director N.V.S. Reddy participated in the ground breaking ceremony of the MLP on Saturday.
The facility will come up on 2,000 square metres of HMRL land near Gandhi Bhavan with an investment of ₹55-60 crore, under Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) mode. The concession period is 50 years.
PALIS Parking System from Germany being deployed here is fully automated and needs little manual intervention. All the user has to do is leave the vehicle on the turn-table provided at the drop-off area, after gaining entry by the swipe of a smart card. For regular users, Radio Frequency Identification will be provided for barrier-free parking.
The vehicle will be guided to the entry point where 360-degree images along with the number plate of the vehicle will be captured and stored. A series of sensors will scan the vehicle and based on the dimensions, the parking system will automatically classify the car into SUV or Sedan for parking at the designated bay on an appropriate floor. The turns in the journey to the parking lot are manoeuvred automatically without human intervention.
Throughout the process, the car is not touched in any other part except the tyres which are lifted slightly by the shuttle of the transporter to facilitate moving. Parking fee is cut at the retrieval time, through the swipe of the card.
No reversing
Delivery of the car precludes any need for reversing, enabling the user to simply drive out onto the road. The building will also allow parking of over 100 two-wheelers, manually. Cent per cent redundancy is provided, which ensures basic functioning even at 50% operation, HMRL informed through a communiqué.
Energy efficiency will be ensured by tapping full potential of site for solar and wind energy, and using LED lights.
Concessionaire Harikishan Reddy is a technocrat entrepreneur, hailing from Telangana and operating from Delhi. He is related to MLC Paturi Sudhakar Reddy, who also attended the event on Saturday, the statement informed.