Bhubaneswar: While the capital leads the Smart City race, its residents face severe parking issues resulting in huge traffic jams in several areas.
The city has around 11 lakh vehicles but according to Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) there are only 11 authorised parking lots located at places like Unit-1 Hata cycle stand, Unit-1 market outside, backside of Unit-2 market, Acharya Vihar, Pantaloon front at Sahid Nagar, Khandagiri Hill etc.
Many parking lots have encroached upon half of the road resulting in massive chaos during rush hours.
The Unit-1 Hata cycle stand parking, which is between Rajmahal square and AG square, often sees massive traffic jams. Though, the Hata cycle stand is only for two-wheelers but even four wheelers can be seen parked there.
“Every day we face huge jams here. More than half of the road has been covered by these parking associations,” said Sushant Kumar Bhoi, a resident of Bapuji Nagar area.
BMC commissioner Dr. Krishan Kumar claimed the city needs parking space for 5,000 four-wheelers. “We will issue tender for a multi-level car parking (MLCP) for 500 vehicles at Unit-2 in December. We will create one MLCP each at Sahid Nagar and railway station. Together the three will have space for around 1,500 vehicles,” he said.
“We have only allowed one lane for parking but if someone is using more than this then action should be taken by the concerned authority,” he added.
There are many illegal parking lots in the city, too, which use BMC’s name. City mayor Ananta Narayan Jena has also fallen prey to the unlawful activity. Jena said he was asked to pay for parking his vehicle but upon enquiry he found
that it was not a BMC authorised lot. BMC has floated tenders for 52 more parking
lots. But experts say the city needs 100 parking lots to cater to the ever increasing vehicular population.
Kuldeep Singh
Post News Network
