MADURAI: The newly constructed Periyar complex continues to remain shut due to delay in obtaining environmental clearance, stalling the opening of the Multi-Level Car Parking (MLCP) facility housed within it.
As a result, the Madurai Corporation’s proposed on-road parking management plan has also been put on hold, worsening parking congestion.
The non-operational Periyar MLCP has disrupted a broader parking regulation strategy announced by the Corporation. The civic body had proposed regulated, fee-based on-road parking on key commercial stretches such as Masi and Aavani streets, but the plan was not implemented in the absence of adequate off-street parking facilities.
According to official sources, shop owners were expected to park their vehicles in the Periyar MLCP, while road space was to be used for regulated on-road parking. Traffic activist T Nagendran said that although regulated on-road parking was announced as early as 2023, it has not been implemented. “At present, the parking situation is at its worst, frequently leading to traffic snarls on Masi and Aavani streets. The Periyar MLCP was expected to ease this situation, but delays in opening the facility continues,” he said.
However, the MLCP near the Meenakshi temple, with a capacity of around 800 cars, has helped ease parking pressure in its immediate vicinity. A senior corporation official said that the required clearances are currently under process and that the Periyar complex would be opened once approvals are received.
The official further said that once the Periyar MLCP becomes operational, commercial establishments would be allowed to park only one vehicle near their premises, with additional vehicles diverted to the MLCP near the Meenakshi temple. “We are also planning to install digital display boards to show real-time parking availability at these facilities,” he said. Meanwhile, traders have raised concerns over the prolonged delay in completing the Periyar complex.
A Karupandi, traders’ association leader, said that traders had vacated their shops at the Complex bus stand in 2019 for the construction of the new Periyar complex, which was promised to be completed within 18 months. “Five years on, the project remains unfinished, pushing over 400 traders into hardship and forcing many to seek alternative livelihoods,” he said, urging the corporation to complete the work at the earliest, allot shops, and allow traders to inspect the new premises.