Underground car parks soon

BMC revives 2009 project, to construct 10 such parking lots in city

To tackle increasing parking woes in the city, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has decided to revive its underground parking lots project across the metropolis. The civic body is planning to construct 10 underground parking lots, especially in the island city, where the parking problem is severe.

Civic officials said five underground parking lots are proposed to be built from Regal Cinema to Hutatma Chowk, whereas two more underground parking lots will be built at Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Mandai, also known as Crawford Market. The BMC is also planning to build underground parking lots at Oval Maidan, Tardeo and Dadar.

The civic body has also made a token provision for these projects in the annual budget for the year 2016-17. If the plan gets finalised, the fund provision will be increased further, said a civic official.

Civic chief Ajoy Mehta said plans were afoot to set up underground parking lots. “To solve parking problems, we are exploring this possibility. We are planning to construct underground parking lots at various places in the city,” he told The Asian Age.

As per the civic data, there are presently 92 parking lots in the city, of which 47 are in South Mumbai. There is only one parking plot for every 120 vehicles in the city. Due to lack of parking space, a lot of these vehicles is parked on roads.

The underground parking project was first proposed in early 2009, with the project aimed at creating underground parking space for about 3,500 cars at seven locations in South Mumbai, from Crawford Market to Regal Cinema in Colaba. The civic body was expected to spend '444 crore on the project. However, the project was later scrapped.