The Kozhikode Municipal Corporation, in association with the city police, has come up with a comprehensive plan to resolve parking issues across the city, by making use of vacant land under various departments.
With more people opting to travel by their own vehicles in view of the pandemic situation, parking issue has become a headache for the Corporation, while the traffic police find it difficult to manage vehicles. The idea put forth by Traffic ASI Manoj Babu was discussed and finalised at a meeting convened by Mayor Beena Philip recently.
Besides the land under the Corporation, land that belongs to Public Works, Revenue and Ports departments will be used for the purpose. The traffic police are developing a mobile application to help with the process.
In a meeting that was attended by representatives from each department, it was decided that a combined team will inspect the available land to check their feasibility. Moreover, there are also plans to use private vacant plots, if they are available. The Corporation needs to procure no-objection certificates from each stakeholder to go ahead with the project. Executive Engineer of the Corporation has been designated as the nodal officer for the project. It was noted that roadside parking could be encouraged in places such as Thondayad, Meenchanda and Civil Station, where roads have wide shoulders. Space for public parking is sought near autorickshaw and taxi parking bays too. The spaces identified by the joint departmental team will be marked after proper tender procedures.
Besides making the space available for parking, the project also aims to eliminate garbage dumping in these places.
Deputy Mayor C.P. Musafir Ahamed, Public Works Standing Committee chairman P.C. Rajan, Assistant Commissioners (Traffic) K.C. Babu and P.K. Raju, Regional Town Planner P.A. Aisha and representatives from government departments took part in the meeting.
