Parking woes of Vizagites

Visakhapatnam is on the verge of becoming one of the three smart cities in the country. Attempts are being made to transform her into one kind of grid (or hub) or the other, be it knowledge, industrial, gas, or some other. For all that hoopla, the infrastructure of Visakhapatnam is far from adequate and needs to be upgraded. Take the inadequate parking spaces in the city, for example.Successive governments let the city grow haphazardly and allowed the matter to snowball into a major problem.
Banks, shops, hospitals, in fact, any institution that the people have to visit routinely, are situated along the main arteries of the city. None of them provide adequate parking space. Hence parking at any place in the city is awkward, to say the least, and citizens have to park their vehicles at their own risk.
The same municipal corporation, which is lax in providing parking and winks at the illegal parking of taxi cabs, tempos, under-repair automobiles and the like, gets overly aggressive with ordinary citizens. It unleashes that dreaded monster called the tow truck, which strikes you when you least expect it! So, Hobson’s choice for the citizenry of Visakhapatnam is, either avoid going out at all or, if you must, to do so on foot. Sounds like an existential problem. Right?
On one unlucky day I became the victim. I stepped out of the Handloom House, where I had gone shopping, to witness the spectacle of my car hanging precariously from the crane’s hook. The monster had struck! I rushed to the inspector, hot and bothered, and pleaded with him. He looked at me severely, as a cop would at a criminal. “You can’t park here,” he said sternly. “This is a no-parking area.” Incredulous, I looked around. Every inch of the space available was taken over by street vendors, commercial vehicles, wheel barrows and the like. There was a row of shops on either side of the Handloom House, but no parking space.
“This is a shopping area,” I said reasonably. “Where do you expect me to park?” I appealed, “Show me a legal parking place and I will take my vehicle there.” A protracted argument ensued, but the inspector was unrelenting. “Providing parking is not my job, it is to control parking,” he said nonchalantly. He was getting quite irritated with me. “Look here madam, can’t you see this is right opposite the Police Commissioner’s office? This is a VIP area and you cannot park here!”
My patience too had snapped by that time, “I am a VIP too.” I asserted stoutly, “I am a tax paying citizen and am entitled to a decent parking place when I go shopping! Now release my car!” I commanded. The policeman looked totally flummoxed. I did not fit his idea of a VIP. No red beacon, no uniformed chauffer. However, a small crowd had gathered and he did not enjoy the experience of being told off by a woman. My car was released. Three years down the line, the area still has no parking lot.
I met the same inspector a fortnight later, this time in front of my bank. We recognised each other. The place was overflowing with the usual scooters, motorcycles, and three-wheelers. It was nothing short of a circus to squeeze my car between a motorcycle and a tea stall. This time I did not want to be surprised. I walked up to the inspector and demanded, ‘Are you going to tow my car away?’ Taken aback, he waved me away. Obviously he was in no mood to argue.
The problem, however, is that the corporation, which gives building permits with alacrity, does not insist on commercial establishments providing adequate parking space. A few years ago, there was the farce of the cellars being cleared to make way for parking vehicles. The move came to naught. The carrying capacity of hotels, cinema halls and hospitals far outweighs the parking that they provide.
Most shops have an apology of a parking facility, with just enough space for two or three cars. The implicit understanding is that the rest of the vehicles will stand on the road. It is no different for corporate hospitals either. The staff, patients and visitors park their vehicles in every conceivable road nearby. Some hospitals park even their ambulances on the road. One has often witnessed the distressing site of very sick patients being lifted onto the hospital gurney in full glare of the public eye. So much for the privacy and dignity of the sick. Housing apartments too do not permit visitors to park their vehicles within their premises. Then some roads are taken over by motor mechanic shops and the entire street is chock-a-block with vehicles under repair. Add to this, the ubiquitous tea, newspaper and fast food stalls, which permanently line the streets.
Schools belong to a different genre altogether. Apart from school buses that ferry children, the crush of parents picking up their wards creates such congestion that traffic comes to a standstill on such streets. Marriage season is the worst. Ever tried driving down to RK Beach when there is an event in one of the big hotels and the movie crowd is released in the other? It is a nightmare best avoided.
Now, a smart city like Visakhapatnam must be in a position to iron out such wrinkles. It is against this backdrop that one welcomes the latest announcement that multilevel parking is planned. One hopes that the grandiose plan will not stay confined to the official files. It is time the corporation gives us basic facilities like adequate parking in the city, instead of wasting its resources on unattractive and uncalled for artificial decorations.