Insufficient parking facilities at commercial buildings fuel traffic congestion in Hyderabad

Multiple eateries and hotels on the west side of Hyderabad have customers turning up on four-wheelers, however, most establishments do not have the parking space to accommodate their vehicles

Hyderabad: Rapid urbanisation in Hyderabad has spurred multiple commercial establishments. Although that’s a welcome sign for development, the lack of adequate vehicle parking facilities at these buildings is contributing to traffic congestion on roads.

Almost every commercial road in the city tackles the issue of parked vehicles taking up space on the carriageway. In most instances, these vehicles do not block the entire road and bring the flow of traffic to a halt, but they sure do narrow the path causing hindrance to motorists.

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If it is not the parked vehicles, then it is the valet service that does the job. Multiple eateries and hotels on the west side of the city have customers turning up on four-wheelers, however, most establishments do not have the parking space to accommodate their vehicles.

More often than not, it takes more than a minute for the visitors to deboard the car and hand it over to the valet, forcing the ongoing traffic to come to a standstill or scurry their way out. Either way, it is the lack of designated spaces to park vehicles that cause these irksome problems.

According to a senior GHMC town planning officer, at least 44 per cent of the total built-up area of a commercial building should be earmarked for parking facilities. For malls, multiplexes, or other complexes it can go up to 60 per cent, in addition to NOC by the traffic police.

Although most officials maintain that a majority of recent constructions have followed the regulations, there are still a lot of other existing buildings that continue to force visitors to park on roads.

“A lot of shops in the market areas and on commercial roads create this problem. The owners park at their spot, but the customers have to often park on roads. If it’s a no-parking place, we also have to then levy fines and pick up the vehicles in our trucks. Sometimes if it’s a four-wheeler obstructing the road, we put clamps on wheels and wait for the owners to come,” explains a senior traffic cop in the city.

A fine of Rs 200 is imposed for parking a vehicle in a manner posing risk to other vehicles, while the penalty for parking on a public road or near ‘No Parking’ boards is Rs 1,000.

Some owners take nearby open spaces or parking lots on lease and ask their customers to station their vehicles there. GHMC has also in some places painted yellow stripes to make space for parked vehicles. However, the fact of the matter is that we are growing as a city and everyone has a vehicle, but just not enough space to park them.

And when we do end up parking them on the roads, it does no good to the existing traffic woes in the city.