THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Finding a place to park your vehicle will be less troublesome with the multi-level car parking facility at three locations- Corporation Main Office, Putharikandam and Medical College under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) scheme. The foundation stone had been laid for the construction of the second multi-level car parking facility and the work is in progress.
In the absence of a designated parking area, roadside parking is the norm and the 'no parking' signboards are ignored. Many commercial establishments do not have a required parking area, thereby, customers tend to park their vehicles on roads leading to traffic blocks. Although the corporation was unable to find a suitable space for a parking lot in the past years, by introducing a multi-level parking facility they plan to achieve the goal. The foundation stone was laid by the Local Self Government minister A C Moideen at the Corporation's Main Office.
The total cost of the project is Rs 30 crore. The six-storeyed parking facility at Putharikandam will offer a parking space for 210 cars and 240 bikes. Currently, Putharikandam has a parking space for about 100 cars. "The foundation stone has already been laid at Putharikandam and the Corporation main office. Work will begin soon after all the process related to the parking facility is over," said Mayor V K Prasanth. A seven-storeyed parking facility has been proposed for the Corporation Main Office which can contain about 102 cars.
Another proposal for a multi-level parking facility at Medical College awaits technical sanction. For the car parking facility in the Putharikandam, the technical sanction was accorded for Rs 12 Crore and at the corporation, for Rs 5.64 crore. The project is being implemented by Sieger Spintech Equipment Private Ltd.
One of the main projects under the AMRUT scheme includes the sewerage network project covering the Kazhakoottam-Technopark-Medical College area thereby improving the sewerage coverage in the city. However, no permanent solution has been obtained and the work is still pending. Under the Smart City Project, the corporation has also planned to build a multi-level car parking facility at Thampanoor to reduce parking woes.