
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Ten months after its inauguration, the multi-level car parking facility at Palayam - the largest such facility in the state - remains underutilised in the capital.
Set up at a cost of Rs 30 crore by Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Ltd (SCTL) with a capacity to accommodate 300 cars, it was opened to the public by the end of May, two months after its inauguration.
Despite being located at a strategic spot like Palayam, the state-of-the-art facility, aimed at addressing parking woes along the bustling MG Road stretch, was expected to reduce congestion and provide safe parking for cars.
Until November, SCTL offered the parking facility free of charge to users. An SCTL official said that once the user fee was introduced, there was a drastic decline in the number of users.
“Currently, only an average of 50 to 55 vehicles are parked at the facility daily. Earlier, when it was free of charge, around 100 to 115 cars used the facility,” said an official.
A fee of Rs 30 is charged for parking a car for two hours, with an additional Rs 10 for each subsequent hour. To encourage more people to make use of the facility, the corporation and the SCTL are planning to renovate the Jubilee Hospital Road, which is being used for parking.
“We are planning to develop the stretch and put up ‘no parking’ boards. There are a slew of facilities inside the MLCP, including EV charging station and toilets,” said the official.
The area is fully under CCTV surveillance. The official said case studies show that it may take a minimum of three months for the public to accept such facilities and use them regularly.
Though the traffic authorities tried to curb parking, the public are not obeying.
“We have given a letter to the commissioner to enforce rules to curb parking by encroaching the footpaths and roads in the area. People are hesitant to use the facility because they are impatient. Parking on the roadside is much easier,” said the official.