Post News Network
Bhubaneswar, Feb 6: Officials of a London-based traffic management firm Friday met Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena and expressed interest in resolving the city’s traffic problems by managing on-street parking lots in the state capital.
According to sources, representatives of the London-based United Traffic and Parking Association (UTPA) met Jena at his office at Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and gave a presentation.
BMC has initiated an on-street parking management system which envisages the establishment of parking stands to streamline traffic in the city. For this, a 20-m space has been earmarked on both sides of the road for parking lots.
The UTPA executives told Jena it would survey the entire city to set up on-street parking lots and provide logistics and manpower support to BMC. The firm reportedly urged the Mayor to allot them the full tender to ensure better traffic management.
A few months back, municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar and twin-city police commissioner RP Sharma flew to London to study its on-street parking systems and emulate it in Bhubaneswar.
Currently, on-street parking lots have been opened between Master Canteen and Rajmahal Square on both sides of the road and a private contractor has been assigned the task of collecting parking fees.
The Mayor has even shared photos of his meeting with the London-based team on his Facebook page.
Smart cards would be issued to vehicle owners so that they would not have to pay every time they park their bikes, scooters and cars at the designated parking lots.
The Mayor, when contacted, said he was unable to offer comment as he was tied up in an important meeting.
