Coimbatore Corporation will soon start collecting parking fee on 30 roads and establish off-street parking lots at a few places in the city.
It would collect the parking fee for vehicles parked on Nawab Hakim Road, Oppanakara Street, Range Gowder Street, Edayar Street, V.H. Road, Raja Street, Big Bazaar Street, Perur Main Road, Mettupalayam Road, Cowley Brown Road, D.B. Road, Bharathi Park Road, Alagesan Road, N.S.R. Road, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Road, Power House Road, Power House Road – West and East, Cross Cut Road, Sathyamangalam Road, Dr. Nanjappa Road, Satyamoorthy Road, Old Post Office Road, State Bank of India Road, Avinashi Road, Arts College Road, Race Course Road and Kamarajar Road, the Corporation said in a resolution the Council had passed on November 30.
The Corporation would be collecting parking fee at ₹30 or ₹40 an hour for four wheelers and ₹10 an hour for two-wheelers and it would not be for the entire stretch of the roads, as the resolution showed that the total parking area covered was only 28.63 km.
In the resolution the Corporation also said it proposed to set up off-street parking lots in select places where it would charge ₹20 an hour for four wheelers and ₹5 an hour for two-wheelers. It also mentioned monthly tickets for parking vehicles in those off-street parking lots at ₹2,400 for four-wheelers and ₹600 for two-wheelers.
The Corporation planned to manage the parking lot by giving out those on contract for five years, the resolution further said.
Commenting on the resolution, consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon said the Corporation had set out to punish road users for the fault of shopping complex owners and its inability. Road users were forced to park on roads because the owners had not provided parking space or illegally used it for commercial gain.
And, the Corporation’s fault here was that it was not sealing those buildings where parking space was used commercially or demolishing buildings built illegally without parking space. In short, the fault was with either the owners or the Corporation but the public paid penalty.
He also wanted to know if the Corporation had consulted the Coimbatore City Traffic Police before deciding on the roads or the stretches therein as the objective behind the resolution was ensuring free vehicle movement.
And, what would be the status of parking lots in the weeks prior to Deepavali as the Traffic Police usually stopped vehicle parking on Oppanakara Street and other busy commercial areas.
