Amidst the city’s continuing parking woes, the Mysore City Corporation is exploring alternatives to ease vexing parking issues as its plan of introducing pay and park scheme in Mysuru’s key commercial hubs received a flak from a section of the people. The MCC has put the pay and park scheme on hold for the time being though it has not shelved the plan.
As its plan of establishing of a multilevel parking facility on its 1.5-acre land in front of the sub-urban bus stand was dropped for technical reasons in view of a storm water drain passing through the land, the MCC has identified a land behind the Nanjaraja Bahadur Choultry off Vinoba Road in the heart of the city for the parking project.
Mayor Shivakumar, Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra and MCC Commissioner Lakshmikanth Reddy had recently inspected the land following a suggestion from the Mayor, who has proposed a larger plan for easing parking woes in the central business district.
Speaking to The Hindu, the Mayor said that along with the DC and the Commissioner, he inspected the land which is suitable for establishing a parking facility. “We are yet to take a call on what kind of a parking facility has to be built – should the MCC go for a multilevel parking or a single level parking since the area is big. We have explained the city’s parking situation to the DC. Further discussions on the issue will continue after another round of inspection soon,” he said.
The Mayor said traffic congestion inside the central business district can be eased to a large extent if the parking facility at the land becomes a reality.
“We have given a start and it all depends on the response from the government to the MCC’s plan since no other suitable land was available in the city centre for exploring any bigger parking plan,” he replied.
The parking problem is centered in the areas around D. Devaraj Urs Road. It could be in a radius of about three km. This is one way of looking at an alternative as centralised parking can address the congestion on the roads in the commercial hubs, he argued.
At the same time, the Mayor said shuttle service can be introduced to key locations in the CBD from the parking point.
He clarified that the land availability needs to be discussed with the DC before any planning. Next week, the MCC is considering conducting another inspection, Mr. Shivakumar said, and added that he has proposed to initiate a plan by the ensuing Dasara festivities.
