CHENNAI: The Corporation of Chennai is in the process of formulating and implementing a long term parking management system to optimise and regulate the use of parking space through the installation of IT-based parking management and enforcement, erection of standardised signages and traffic control devices and by constructing multi-level parking spaces in and around commercial hubs.
According to a joint report submitted before the Madras High Court by the Joint Commissioner (Traffic) and Deputy Commissioner (Revenue and Finance), Corporation of Chennai, a committee headed by the Superintending Engineer (Road and Works), Chennai Corporation, was constituted.
The committee formulated short term and long term strategies for NSC Bose Road in Esplanade. According to the committee, there are 44 restaurants, having a footfall of 12,000 per day. Of them, only one - Reef Restaurant - provided space for parking 10 two-wheelers, and that too off the street. As many as 11,169 commercial establishments are located there and none of them has any parking space.
Around 600 two-wheelers and 140 four-wheelers are parked during peak hours in the area. About 1 lakh pedestrians pass through NSC Bose Road daily and 60 to 80 per cent of the carriageway is occupied by pedestrians, vendors and parked vehicle.
The short-term plans include good street design segregating motorised traffic and parking from pedestrians and vendors, creation of vending and parking zones, removal of all encroachments and obstructions, relocation of the utilities causing obstruction, increasing the footpath space, lane marking of the carriageway and parking bays, erection of clear sign boards indicative of parking, vending and pedestrian movement, regulating parking and vending through effective enforcement, issue of trade licences only after obtaining an NOC from the traffic point of view from the Police Commissioner and to initiate appropriate legal action against unauthorised eateries and commercial establishments.
This would create a clear carriage way ranging from seven to eight metres and pedestrian footpath of two to three metres on both the sides of the road.
The specific actions to be performed are to relocate the light commercial vehicle stand from opposite Flower Bazaar police station to Muthusamy Road opposite Fort railway station, and utilising the space on the North Fort Road from Raja Annamalai Mandram junction to High Court south gate for parking.
The reports were filed before the first bench of Chief Justice SK Kaul and Justice MM Sundresh, which accepted the same on Tuesday.
It made it clear that there cannot be any legal impediment to the project. If any, the same shall be placed before it.
The bench also directed the authorities concerned to provide for punitive measures for violations, including heavy fine.
The authorities should also simultaneously carry out the exercise for different areas of Chennai, on the basis of the joint report, the bench added.