The Maharashtra government has set up a four-member committee to review existing parking infrastructure in urban areas, especially in Mumbai and its suburbs.
Officials said that the expert committee will be headed by Anil Kumar Sharma, professor at the School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), in New Delhi; and consist of Dr. Sanjay Gupta, of the SPA; S. Landge, the director of the State Town Planning Department, and his deputy.
The committee has been asked to study availability of land for parking requirements, give recommendations on how to balance the two and submit a report in a month’s time. Mr. Landge, in his note to planning authorities, said: “Sanctioned development control and promotion regulations have been framed for parking requirements in various land uses. But the government has now felt the need to review these provisions.”
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An official of the Town Planning Department said, “The idea is to study the land-wise parking requirement of all authorities, including the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, and analyse the available land bank vis-a-vis the parking requirement of the given area.” The official said the report would give the government ideas to systematically carry out urban parking management.
Illegal sale of space
Haphazard planning has left the city with minimum parking spaces. Builders are not authorised to sell parking space but they charge between ₹2 lakh and ₹15 lakh for a single parking slot. Much of this money is paid in cash and recorded outside the agreement.
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On-street and off-street parking is also insufficient to meet the city’s requirements. To increase supply, BMC has allowed for construction of public parking lots under Rule 33(24) of the Development Control Rules.