The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Growing mismatch between road space and vehicle population

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 06, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Growing mismatch between road space and vehicle population

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, JUNE 5. Vehicle owners will undoubtedly save some money following the State Government's decision to waive parking fee for two and three-wheelers. But, the decision is a step backward when viewed in the context of the growing need for scientific parking management in the city, urban planners apprehend.

Their viewpoint is supported by a recent study on the vehicle parking in the city. The study, conducted by Wilbur Smith Associates, was commissioned by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority. It suggested hiking of parking fees on congested stretches and voiced its concern at the increasing mismatch between available road space and the vehicle population.

Of the 18 lakh vehicles in the city, two-wheelers constitute nearly 75 per cent and their number, according to automobile industry projection, is rapidly growing. Fourteen lakh cycles and a large number of non-motorised vehicles also vie for the space on the roads.

The city has only `on-road' parking lots that eat into the road width, even as proposals for `off-road' parking facilities, such as multi-level parking lots, remain only on paper.

The Wilbur-Smith study pointed out that haphazard parking was a major cause for traffic snarls. A specific example was that of north Chennai, where parking of lorries on the roads often throws traffic out of gear.

In its recommendations, the study called for fixing the parking fee in a manner that promotes use of public transport services and discourages people from using personal modes of transport. The need for strengthening the public transport system was also stressed.

With the possibility of the government announcement becoming an incentive for vehicle owners, urban planners feel that the only option to ensure order would be to declare several stretches as `no-parking' zones.

According to a former Anna University professor, T. Anantharajan, who has worked on several traffic management projects, the immediate task is to make sure that road space is used only to facilitate smooth and easy flow of traffic. "It is an urgent need to ensure that vehicles are not parked indiscriminately and for long hours on the roads," he said.

Exnora International founder-president, M. B. Nirmal, was of the view that the government could have fixed a nominal fee for parking for two-wheelers. "Just look at T. Nagar. It is one of the most congested and polluted areas of the city. With the restructuring of the parking fee system, it might have even more vehicles. The government must now look at multi-storeyed parking facilities and other solutions," he said.

Senior officials at Ripon Buildings, Chennai Corporation headquarters, said the parking attendants appointed by the Tamil Nadu Ex-Servicemen Corporation (TEXCO) had already started enforcing the revised tariff.

As per the announcement, the tariff for private cars, including tourist cars, will be Rs 20 per day. For tempo vans, it will be Rs 15 for 12 hours and Rs 30 per day, while lorries have to pay Rs 25 for 12 hours and Rs 50 per day.

While two-wheeler drivers are not complaining, car owners still have some minor issues to be resolved. Mahesh Gopaldas, a shop owner in Rattan Bazaar, said parking attendants are not properly calculating the six-hour time span. "I park my vehicle between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. They demand Rs.20, whereas it should be Rs.10," he said.

The slashing of parking fee will also cut into Chennai Corporation's revenue. Only recently, it renewed its contract with TEXCO and set a revenue target of Rs 3.20 crores per year. The target now seems off the mark. The officials, however, said the loss of even a couple of crores of rupees due to the new tariff structure would not have a bearing on its overall budget, which is over Rs. 100 crores.

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