Shoppers' paradise: Meters will police parking on Brigade Road

BANGALORE: Shoppers, who have been wary of the chaos of Brigade Road, can now take heart. Brigade Road will be a shoppers'' paradise in 10 days. Well, almost.
The much publicised parking meters have finally arrived. Disciplined parking will soon be a reality on the road.
The Brigade Shops and Establishments Association (BSEA) will instal eight sophisticated parking meters, imported from France at a cost of about Rs 50 lakh, along the stretch from Cauvery Emporium to Opera theatre.
These meters are time-keeping machines which don''t allow any vehicle to remain in a slot for more than two hours. In case a customer takes more than two hours, the shop owners have to make arrangements to shift their customer''s car to another slot. If a car is found at any time on the street without a ticket or has exceeded the time limit, the traffic police Tigers will tow away the vehicle.
For genuine shoppers, this is a blessing in disguise because the hangers-out will have to give way to them. "Right now, if you want to go shopping, you''re reluctant to come to Brigade Road because of the traffic jam. All this will be removed by parking meters," BSEA secretary Suhail Yusuff said.
"We are working very closely with the BCC and the traffic police on this and are very strict about the discipline," Yusuff added.
Brigade Road will now have space to park 800 to 1,000 cars a day in circulation at the 100 slots. The parking meters will also do away with office-goers'' cars, parked from morning till evening — either they will have to park elsewhere, or renew their time slots every two hours. BSEA has also taken up, with the BCC, beautification of Brigade Road.