A meeting of the city Corporation council on Tuesday decided to maintain the status quo in the pay-and-park system, being implemented in a phased manner in the city roads over the past four years.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillors had earlier demanded that the collection of money from the public for parking on the city roads be ended.
UDF support
But with the opposition United Democratic Front (UDF) also taking a stand in support of the current system, the result of the almost three-hour-long discussion was a foregone conclusion. The BJP councillors argued that municipal corporations did not have the right to impose parking fees as per the existing rules.
The BJP questioned the validity of the Corporation’s Traffic Advisory Committee, which takes decisions on parking fees and traffic-related issues.
, Mayor V.K. Prashant told the council meeting that no charges would be levied for parking for short durations. The parking slip would be made valid for an hour, making it possible to use it at more than one location within that hour.
As G. Sudhakaran, Minister for Public Works, had recently raised objections to the Corporation collecting parking fees on PWD roads, the BJP used his comments as the main weapon in the council on Tuesday.
An ally in Minister
BJP Councillor Karamana Ajith said that “What Comrade Sudhakaran said is right. He is sensible.”
The BJP councillors reiterated that they did not want the 144 traffic wardens to lose their jobs, but were only against the collection of parking fee.
“I have already held a meeting with the Minister regarding the parking issue. He had suggested that the fee has to be avoided in sensitive areas around the Secretariat. This and other suggestions will come up for discussion in the next meeting of the traffic advisory committee,” said the Mayor.
Public acceptance
Town Planning Committee Chairperson Palayam Rajan said that it was evident that the public had accepted the arrangements, as people and residents’ associations from various regions were demanding the extension of the parking zones to more areas within the city, in Janamaithri meetings.