Pune: Confusion Among Citizens Over PCMC’s ‘Pay and Park’; 5 Rupees For Parking For 5 Minutes
Pimpri, 2nd July 2021: Implementation of ‘Pay and Park’ has started at 80 places in Pimpri-Chinchwad city. On the first day, there was a lot of controversy over ‘Pay and Park’. Citizens are sceptical about paying for parking in tough times.
Citizens have to travel to different parts of the city for work. You have to pay Rs. 5 for parking at each place. Petrol and diesel prices have gone up. Citizens felt that it was wrong to implement ‘pay and park’ in such a difficult situation when the economic condition of the common man in the industrial city was deteriorating due to Covid.
The parking policy in the city is being implemented through the BRTS department of the Municipal Corporation. It includes 13 main roads and some spaces under flyovers, with a total of 450 pay and park sites. About 80 of these places are included in the first phase. The work of operating the parking lot has been outsourced to a private company. The implementation of parking started today. On the first day, a picture of confusion appeared. There was a lack of planning.
Some traders with roadside shops were asked to pay a fee for parking vehicles in front of their shops. There is confusion among the traders as they have to pay for parking in front of their own shop. There is a charge for parking vehicles at various intersections in the city. Autorickshaw drivers take passengers on stops. They have to pay Rs 5 to stay in one place. Passengers have to stop at many places throughout the day. If we paid Rs 5 to stop at each place, what we would do, a rickshaw puller asked. From that, it was seen that there were disputes in many places on the first day. Inadequate parking in many places is also a reason for controversy.
Citizens have to travel to different parts of the city for work. There are 5 to 10 minutes of work in one place. For those ten minutes, you have to pay Rs. 5 to park on the other side. Petrol has become Rs 105 per litre. In such a situation, now we have to bear the brunt of parking. Municipal administration should reconsider the decision to cut the pockets of the citizens, said Shailesh Bansaode.
Roads dug earlier by the municipal administration should be repaired. This is not the time to charge for parking. Currently, everyone is suffering from inflation. The economic situation of the common man is dire because of the Covid. So it is wrong to charge for parking. The administration has missed the time to implement the parking policy, said Madhav Kulkarni.
