Shoppers protest; No way to ease pressure on parking space

The Mysuru  City Corporation (MCC) Council with 65 Corporators whom we unfortunately call as City Fathers have taken a decision on June 9,  2023 to introduce a ‘Pay and Park’ system on six important roads of the business hubs of our city in downtown area and also at Town Hall open space. The roads are: D. Devaraj Urs Road, Sayyaji Rao Road, Ashoka Road, Vinoba Road (Shivarampet Road), Sri Harsha Road, Dhanvantri Road and Town Hall premises.

It is not known what prompted these Corporators to pass the resolution (decision) in spite of the fact that in the past such attempts had failed for reasons of lack of political will and protest by the general public led by various organisations. At that time it was alleged that the  move was made by the association of shopkeepers, who were exempted from paying the parking fee for parking their vehicles while their customers were made to pay the fee.  There were also some technical glitches in the operational system of the meters to calculate the time etc.

Interestingly, the Council also resolved to invite tenders to select the agencies which will operate the Pay and Park system.

If the citizens of the city have any lesson to learn from the kind of decisions taken by the MCC Council, they need not do any research. The greatest blunder in taking decisions about matters that concern the interest of the public was the infamous decision taken by the MCC way back in 2005-2006 regarding Makkaji Chowk. Leasing it out to a private firm for a song and which is still making news — bad news. The latest news is about the Court order that forced the MCC to remove the barricades and fence that was put up to block the road from Gandhi Square to Sayyaji Rao Road. Thanks to the Mysuru Rakshana Vedike which took the MCC to Court.

Be that as it may, now once again the MCC Council has taken another infamous decision to solve the parking problem in the downtown area of our city where all the shops and commercial activities are taking place. Once again the Mysuru Rakshana Vedike has opposed this decision and asked the MCC not to implement the ‘Pay and Park’ system (see report on page 9). According to them, there was no need to introduce the ‘Pay and Park’ system in our city in the areas and roads identified by the MCC.

The Mysuru Rakshana Vedike, in its yesterday’s meeting, said there is already a multi-level parking area under construction in the Town Hall premises. If the work is completed, it has the facility to park 600 cars. There are also two more places available to provide parking space. One is the massive cellar of the Ambedkar Bhavan near D. Devaraj Urs Road where the management of Ambedkar Bhavan might be approached by the MCC to provide parking as per the negotiated terms and conditions.

There is also Gaadi Chowk area which can also be  negotiated by the MCC for parking purpose.

In the meanwhile, the Devaraja Mohalla residents held a protest demonstration against the MCC stating that the proposed ‘Pay and Park’ system is unscientific. Addressing the protestors, the social activist and former MCC Corporator Nagabhushan said that the hurriedly taken decision by the MCC regarding the ‘Pay and Park’ system will not only be a heavy burden to the shoppers but also a cause for inconvenience. He demanded that the MCC abandon this anti-people decision. He also said that this decision was taken without the knowledge of the local MLAs. He said that the decision was taken to please the shop-owners and to make the parking suitable for their business which will help increase the footfalls.

Nagabhushan made another pertinent point when he said that if the ‘Pay and Park’ system is introduced, there was bound to be heavy pressure for free parking space on all roads parallel and perpendicular to Devaraj Urs Road and other roads where the system is proposed to be introduced. This would cause not only traffic jam but also inconvenience to shopkeepers and residents of these roads.

All said and done, the reason for creating this kind of crisis situation with regard to lack of parking space is due to the wrong decisions taken by the MCC Council and the countenance (for whatever reason, you guessed it) the Government gave to the MCC Council.

Personally speaking, I remember many years ago, I and some senior citizens of Mysuru, among them some politicians too, were invited for a meeting by the Deputy Commissioner at his Office to discuss about the problem of parking vehicles on Devaraj Urs Road. The very next day, I got a call from the DC’s Office saying that the meeting was cancelled.

After dodging my question for the reason of cancelling, the answer I got was rather surprising. The meeting was to discuss about availing the vacant lands around Devaraj Urs Road for parking purpose.

While these are the difficulties that any Municipality or Corporation could definitely face in a democracy, where decisions are taken collectively,  the vested interest is bound to play a negative role. The MCC had many opportunities to solve this problem in the past but it did not have the wisdom nor the vision to do greater good to the greater number of people. Like for example, when it took a decision regarding the 4.19 acre of land in Makkaji Chowk.

But let  bygones be bygones. No point in crying over spilt milk. We are lucky to have the Town Hall premises where a Rs. 19 crore project was conceived and launched some time in 2010-2011 under the JnNURM project of the Central Government. The money was simply waiting to be utilised for Urban Development. And providing parking space for ever growing city like Mysuru was one of the important urban development projects.

The project which was launched during 2010-2011 had envisaged the area to the right of the Town Hall to be developed with an underground parking lot in two levels and one parking lot above ground to provide parking for 600 cars.

According to former MCC Commissioner Dr. C.G. Betsurmath (2014-2016) in order to facilitate easy entry and exit of these vehicles, an exit road was also planned via Makkaji Chowk. The principal contractor was a Hyderabad party, who failed to fulfil the terms and conditions of the contract which led the MCC to hire a local contractor to complete the pending works. Unfortunately, the Hyderabad contractor went to the Court and got a stay. Dr. Betsurmath says that while he was the Commissioner, this work was underway and had even brought CM Siddharamaiah and District Minister V. Sreenivasa Prasad  to the work spot to show them the project. However, work on this project came to a standstill for reasons mentioned above while Dr. Betsurmath got busy with two legacies that he left behind while laying down the office as MCC Commissioner —  1. Sri Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Statue at Hardinge Circle and 2. R.K. Narayan Museum in Yadavagiri.

It is unfortunate for our city that neither the Deputy Commissioners nor the MCC Commissioners in Office took  this project forward after Dr. Betsurmath. I am sure much of the Sayyaji Rao Road and D. Devaraj Urs Road parking would have been solved with this project. Incidentally, this JnNURM project which is now 12-year-old is a comprehensive one that included one open air theatre and a well laid out garden.

All things considered, the MCC Council may in its wisdom reconsider its decision and annul the ‘Pay and Park’ system and pass another people-friendly resolution, or call it shopper-friendly resolution, to complete the unfinished Town Hall Multi-Level Parking Project. 

e-mail: [email protected]