Tamil Nadu - Tiruchi

Need for proper parking lots in Tiruchi City PUlse

— Photos: R.M. Rajarathinam

Congestion zone: Parking of vehicles on the road side on West Boulevard Road in Tiruchi.

TIRUCHI: Tiruchi city, being in the heart of the State, has always proved an ever-busy centre. The State government’s decision to set up a Tidel Park and an IIM here and the move by a few international airlines to operate flights from here to various world destinations has further added to Tiruchi’s importance.

Even before these developments are to take place, the city is steadily feeling the pinch of the burgeoning vehicle population posing a challenge to traffic managers. Frequent traffic hold-ups on major thoroughfares for a brief spell have become a regular phenomenon.

Parking of vehicles at will adds to the problem. In the absence of dedicated parking lots in busy areas, including Main Guard Gate, Thillai Nagar, Woraiyur, Cantonment, Junction, etc., motorists park their vehicles in a haphazard manner.

Of late multi-storeyed commercial complexes have come up in certain areas in the city. What is causing great anxiety to the residents is the absence of a parking space. Even the well-established multi-storeyed hospitals have no proper parking lots.

In highly commercial areas such as Main Guard Gate and Thillai Nagar, parking demand far exceeded. The on street parking has resulted in severe clogging of commercial zones. Unplanned parking reduces existing road space by more than 40 per cent.

A cross section of the people feel that the corporation has not yet woken up to one of the most dire needs of the city today. It is time for the Corporation authorities to conduct a traffic-management study and establish parking lots where ever required, they feel.

“The need of the hour is multi-storeyed dedicated parking lots that offer legality of parking as well as a fair degree of peace-of-mind to car owners”, observed Chandramouli, a businessman. The Corporation should come forward to establish more underground and multi-storeyed parking lots and this would go a long way in decongesting high traffic zones, he adds.

The vacant space at the Amaravathi supermarket campus on the Fort Station Road was earmarked as a parking lot. However, at present vehicles are not allowed to be parked. The conversion of the vacant space available due to the demolition of the District Central Library opposite Singarathope as a temporary parking lot is serving the purpose to a certain extent. “There is adequate vacant land available at Yanaikulam behind the Poompuhar Showroom and the Corporation should think of constructing a multi-storeyed parking lot”, says A. Ahamed Hussain, a resident of Singarathope. It could explore the possibility of constructing it under the Build-Operate and Transfer’ basis, he adds.

As an immediate and short term measure, the Corporation could create parking lots on roadsides in busy areas and could collect toll for using the facility. It could employ ex-servicemen, unemployed graduates, etc., for manning them.

Apart from bringing about parking discipline, this would generate employment opportunity and additional revenue to the local body, many feel.

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