The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Lack of parking lots presents a fresh set of problems city pulse

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Monday, Sep 29, 2008
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Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Lack of parking lots presents a fresh set of problems city pulse

Kannal Achuthan

— Photo: V. Ganesan

Vehicles parked along North Mada Street in Mylapore, which was once a peaceful residential locality.

CHENNAI: When commercial and residential spaces come up in the same building complexes, there is sure to be one point of conflict: who parks where?

Most buildings in the city do not provide enough parking space. The problem gets compounded when shops on the ground floor of residential buildings claim parking space for their shoppers on the road in front of the buildings.

On Pinjala Subramanian Street off Usman Road at T. Nagar, many residential apartments now serve as offices for IT companies and DTP firms. The employees park not only inside the complex but also in front of independent homes.

S. Devika, a resident, complains that the locality has turned into a commercial zone. “Over the past five years, the problem has turned acute. We cannot even walk safely.”

At Shenoy Nagar, a relatively quite residential area, several retail chains have set up shop. Residents say the stores have made it easier for them to do one-stop shopping, but they have brought their own set of problems. “Earlier, children could cycle on the streets around the Shenoy Nagar park, but now traffic has increased considerably,” says G. Unnikrishnan, who has lived in the locality for 40 years.

The situation is worse in the already crowded areas such as Triplicane. Even the new buildings have no provision for parking, resulting in residents and shoppers using the streets. Almost 50 per cent of the Triplicane High Road, Bharathi Salai and Chellapillayar Koil Street have been taken over by vehicles. Several mattress godowns and showrooms on Pycrofts Roads are housed below residential apartments.

The shops unload stocks from trucks every day, blocking traffic.

Illegal parking can also hinder emergency services. Ambulances or fire engines cannot reach the injured or the ailing when vehicles are parked on narrow streets, quite often on both sides. The Corporation has 150 designated parking spaces on the streets and plans to identify some more. The multi-storey parking facilities it has proposed are yet to take shape.

Though the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority has tightened parking rules in the new master plan, implementation will remain a major challenge.

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