Parking space restrictions and road decongestion

In a new scheme to tackle the issue of decongestion of roads, the government is mulling the option of allowing registration of vehicles, only after production of parking space availability certificate to the authorities. Union minister Venkaiah Naidu, in an event this week, said that the government was in touch with the Surface Transport Ministry to make it mandatory for car buyers to provide proof of parking before buying a car. However, permanent parking slots in burgeoning cities as well as metropolitan ones are hard to come by, despite car owners having enough money to purchase and maintain a vehicle. We speak to celebrities, prominent town planners and architects, as well as members of law and order and ask them if this move is a difficult one to implement, and what could be a realistic and ideal way of managing the growing traffic on the streets.

‘Some kind of car restraint is necessary in Mumbai’
V.K. PHATAK, Urban planner and former chief town planner with the MMRDA
I think some kind of car restraint is necessary in a city like Mumbai. But this whole certificate business, I’m not sure if it can be effectively implemented.  

‘The scheme is only going to affect the middle class’
Sam Paul, Advocate, Madras High Court
One of the biggest problems on Indian roads is car traffic. By asking people to show an allotted parking space proof through this scheme, it is only going to affect the middle class and lower middle class, who mostly park their cars on the roads even in metros. But for an upper middle class, or for those households that own more than one car and have enough parking spaces, the scheme won’t have any effects. If the desired effect is to have lesser traffic on our streets, it is better to increase the tax on a second car that a particular household purchases, than ask them to show a parking space certificate.

‘Where is the public transport?’
Narasimham Vadlamani, Landscape architect
It is a horrible idea. The government should stop troubling citizens for everything and take up some responsibility on their own. Where is the public transport?

In Hyderabad, proper transportation planning has never been done. Many public buses are bought and let loose on the roads; many don’t use them because they’re in such bad condition. Nobody knows when the metro will finally start functioning. The government has been promising every year, but in vain. There’s no capable transport minister and the government doesn’t take help from transport planners or consultants. Professionals and not ministers who are slacking should run the state.  Banks with car loans are pampering every individual. In a country like Singapore, this wouldn’t happen. Not everyone is allowed to buy a car easily, and the public transport is top notch.  There is no space in the city and citizens cannot be blamed for that. The government is the one to be blamed because they have not planned anything well.

‘The move will benefit metro cities’
P.B. Sajan, Architect
As far as Kerala goes, there is no difficulty in parking cars at night in the confines of your home or in by lanes. What needs to be addressed is the issue of car parking during the daytime on roads. To seek a solution to parking woes in big cities — especially in existing high-rise multi–storied buildings — what needs to be ensured is that the space earmarked as parking be utilised as parking space itself and not for any other commercial or recreational use. The government needs to ensure that the designated parking spaces as per permit remains as parking space only. It is not the government’s duty to provide parking space for shop customers, but the responsibility of the shop owners themselves. I think the option of allowing registration of vehicles after production of parking space availability certificate will benefit metro cities by bringing down parking of cars in the daytime on roads. Multi–level parking is a good option in many cases, which can benefit commercial and residential buildings.

‘They need to provide connectivity’
R.Srinivas, Town and Country Planner
To implement this rule practically will be very difficult. We are comparing our situation with Japan and Singapore and they are highly populated countries, where the rules are very strict. The only solution that can be applied is a very effective public transport system. They need to provide connectivity and accessibility. They should propose alternatives based on car sales patterns and oil sales. One family shouldn’t be allowed to have more than one car. This would be easy to implement than the rule proposed by the government.