Mysore/Mysuru: With COVID gone at least for now, hectic activities are back on city roads. Even the parking woes on D. Devaraj Urs Road, the commercial hub of Mysuru with a premium parking space, is back in the news.
Though many attempts have been made in the past to ease the perennial parking problem, they have made no headway, worsening the problem further. With the works on the multi-level parking at the Town Hall moving at a snail’s pace and in the absence of a deadline to complete the works, the exasperated shopper is forced to avoid the Devaraja Urs Road and prefer some other area for shopping needs.
Every other day, Star of Mysore receives calls and letters, highlighting the problem where the shop owners park their vehicles on the road from morning till late in the night, leaving no space for shoppers to park at least till their purchasing is over. This has forced shoppers to park their vehicles (with drivers inside) right behind the vehicles belonging to the shop owners, leading to traffic snarls.
Sources told this newspaper that a plan of action is being worked out to end the parking woes and discussions are on to make space for the shop owners to park their vehicles at an identified location in Devaraja Mohalla so that the shopper gets some space to park.
The plan of action is being worked out by the city Traffic Police in coordination with the D. Devaraj Urs Road Shop Owners and Tenants Association, the main stakeholders of the road. The Association has communicated to the Police that as many shop owners park on the road, their business has suffered and they would now want to improve the business, sources added.
The Association is willing to extend cooperation to the Traffic Police to work out a plan. Already two meetings have been conducted in this direction and the Police have taken the shop owners into confidence, sources said.
Meanwhile, SOM reader G. Suryanarayana from Teachers Layout wrote that he is a regular commuter on this road and it is disturbing to see umpteen number of four-wheelers parked on the road behind the regular cars parked in the parking lot.
“These four-wheelers occupy the road and it is a regular sight to see these four-wheelers parked on the roadside right behind the usual car parking.” The space taken by the cars to park and the vehicle behind them easily take up 50 percent of the road.
“I am surprised why no action is being taken on these vehicle owners who are not only obstructing smooth traffic movements but also causing a lot of inconvenience to the cars parked in the stipulated area. If vehicles are parked behind parked cars, how is it possible to take out the vehicle in reverse gear,” he questioned.
Inner city parking is a major problem in all major cities around the world. A few suggestions for the authorities for long term
1. Improve public transport (light rail, metro ..) People can park within 1km radius of the city and use the public transport to access the inner CBD
2. Increase parking charges for inner city parking.
3. Develop Apps to show where parking spots are available. People can access it on phone
4. Build a couple of levels of basement parking in Lansdowne Building and Devaraja Market unless a new underground metro station is planned underneath Devaraja Market
5. Complete Town Hall multi-storied car park ASAP
6. Charge an entry tax to enter anywhere within 1Km radius from KR Circle. Install electronic toll gates in all roads leading to the CBD
7. Develop and implement a master plan for development of Sivarampet area up to Dewans Road. Land utilisation is very poor in this prime area. Each buiding must be at least 4 stories with 2 levels of basement. Increases commercial space. Integrate underground parking in all buildings
The only viable solution to this parking problem is to make all designated car parking a PAID PARKING ON HOURLY BASIS. This will ensure that the shop owners will not occupy the parking throughout the day and this will give an opportunity for shoppers also to park their cars. Parking tickets can be issued to shoppers at the time of parking, with DATE & IN TIME stamp by the concessionaire staff. At the time of removing the car from parking the staff can issue another ticker with the OUT TIME & DATE after collecting the parking charges. These parking tickets can be issued through hand held machine. The per hour parking charge (with one hour minimum) can be enough to deter people from parking their vehicles for too many hours.
The above scene looks like a snap shot taken in the run down Ulsoor alley way in Bangalore! So many cars ,saying car culture in Mysore, once a cycling city.
@Govind Pai, this sight is not a an attitude of mind, but a city which is fast degenerating into oblivion.
I completely agree with the above comments. The same is the situation on The stretch of Ashoka Road between SBI/GPO to Mysore Palace. Many of the shop keepers have residences either on the upper floor of the shops or on the bylanes and they have made Ashoka Road a permanent parking place. I commute daily on this road between 3.00-5.00 am. Who comes to shop or who keeps the shop open during these hours that the road is filled with parked cars ???