Parking chaos in overdrive

PUNE: Almost a year after the Pune Cantonment Board (PCB) announced a major plan for the construction of a series of parking places for vehicles in Pune Camp, no action has been taken. In the meantime, the lack of parking space has turned the entire area into a chaos zone.
In late 2006 the then PCB president, Brigadier N M Rasquinha, had proposed the construction of new parking complexes.Besides a number of smaller places for two-wheelers, five new big complexes for four-wheelers were planned at Aurora Tower chowk, Mahavir chowk, Deccan Tower, Fashion Street market and Kumbharbowdi market.
Almost a year down the line, the PCB has not even discussed the matter at its board meeting. At the same time, the existing two-wheeler parking place in Fashion Street market has turned into a no-go area for pay-and-park operators because of threats from local hawkers which prompted the operating company, Shree Bhavani Developers, to give up its contract a few months back.
“The space behind Deccan Towers can accommodate up to 200 vehicles at a time and there is no dispute over the land which belongs to the cantonment board. In such a situation, the PCB’s easy-going attitude belies all the tall claims made by officials regarding solving the traffic problem,” said advocate and local activist Asseem Sheikh.
While a portion of the cantonment court in Mahavir chowk where the complex was to come up lies unattended, in Kumbharbowdi market the board officials have yet not been able to take a decision regarding the future of the largest vegetable market in Camp.
“We used to operate the two-wheeler parking at Deccan Towers also but gave up that area as all parking space was occupied by locals who refused to pay. Now encroachment by hawkers and advertising agencies in M.G. Road is making us re-think the parking place in that road as well,” said Pramod Yande, chairmen of Shree Bhavani.
According to Netraprakash Bhog, local resident and noted expert on cantonment laws, traffic and parking problems have now showed up in areas which used to be fairly placid like Taboot Street and Hidayatullah road. “On the one hand there is no space for pedestrians as the footpaths are encroached upon. On top of that, bad planning and traffic management has resulted in daily traffic jams and lack of parking spaces,” he said.
S K Sardana, PCB cantonment executive officer (CEO), cited court cases as in the matter of Fashion Street market as a hindrance in the formulation of ground action. “In some places construction of complexes would require dismantling the existing parking spots. Many times sanctions are also late in arriving,” he said.
The CEO promised that all matters relating to traffic planning have been given priority under the ongoing studies being undertaken for the board’s recently declared five year planning strategy. “In the meantime, we are working with the city police’s traffic department for short-term solutions,” Sardana said.