BY – Subhajit Bhattacharya
Parking woes of Kolkata residents are likely to ease now! The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has introduced hand-held parking meters in order to bring transparency in the collection of parking fees.
Initially, the service has started at Russell Street and Park Street. The corporation will rollout the project across the city in a phased manner.
The device is equipped with a timer to record the time spent by a vehicle at the parking lot. Hence, the vehicles will be charged on the basis of the time spent at the parking zone.
Moreover, the tailor-made device will charge as per the tariff structure drawn by the KMC.
The KMC is taking various steps to systematise the parking. It has issued a strict diktat to all the cooperative societies for issue of uniform and identification cards to all the parking attendants. The grievance cell will keep an eye on the parking-related problems and take necessary actions.
Also, proper rate chart and helpline number will be displayed at all the vantage points to bring transparency in the system.
Strict actions will be taken in case of any irregularity, the corporation said.
Surajit Kar Purkayastha, Kolkata Police Commissioner said, “In a highly populated cosmopolitan city like Kolkata, a proper synchronisation between the police and KMC is required to run the system smoothly.”
Kolkata Police and the KMC have been receiving several complaints related to illegal parking nexus in the state. Even the Chief Secretary of West Bengal, Sanjay Mitra, faced similar problem while parking his car. A high level meeting, which was attended by the Mayor, top cops and diplomats, was immediately organised after the incident to chalk out a proper solution.
“Within one month we got this result and soon we will come up with different other initiatives to make Kolkata a better to place to live,” assured Alapan Bandyopadhay, Transport Secretary.
Applauding the Kolkata Police and KMC, Mitra said, “The government has been actively taking steps to resolve issues for the betterment of the people.”
KMC is planning to take this entire initiative to the next level. Laying down some of the future plans, Mayor Sovan Chatterjee said, “The KMC will launch a parking app soon, which will help people to book their parking space from their residence and will completely eradicate the parking problems from Kolkata.”