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– Photo: H. Vibhu

Wrong place: People in Kochi often resort to parking their vehicles just about anywhere, sometimes only to find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

It is difficult to find comfortable parking space anywhere in the city, says Vijaya Kumar, a government employee in the city who owns a small family car. In fact, he says, he hardly takes his car to go into the city, using it as sparingly as possible because the parking spaces are crammed.

There are thousands of people like him who find the problem adding to the woes of a city life. Some of them are inhibited about going to the cinemas or eating out because it would take an expert’s skills to park a car during peak hours.

Parking space is not only a problem with prime commercial areas in the city. The problems are the same with apartment complexes which are increasing rapidly in the city area. The number of cars per family has increased significantly since 1995. In fact, apartment builders appear to have paid little attention to providing parking space in the initial stages of the flat culture. Things have changed drastically. Parking space is being provided but the cost has gone up significantly forcing both builders and individual flat owners to explore ways of reducing the cost of parking space.

Even government regulations on the provision for parking space in apartment complexes or commercial complexes are ready to see major changes in the near future. The proposed amendments to the Kerala Municipal Building Rules are expected to include realistic provisions for parking, says an official in the Town Planning Department.

If the earlier provision was for a car park per a house of 100 sq. m., it is going to change now. It is learnt that the Subject Committee that considered the suggestions for amendments to the Building Rules have suggested higher parking space ratio than was initially suggested taking into consideration the fast space of growth in the State.

Many of the leading builders are looking at several options for solving the parking problem. The lift system is one of them. Using lifts to park cars at several levels is a technology option that is not widely in use now. Nor is it being perceived as an option that will be popular. A leading builder in the city said that lift systems are alright for a building complex which has severe space constraints. However, it has its limitations compared with the ramp system which is being introduced in several apartment complexes here.

The ramp system offers hassle-free parking facility at several levels. Of course, sufficient space is needed to provide for the ramp. While the lift system offers a solution to severe space constraints, the ramp system is more user-friendly, says the builder.

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