The Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation’s new parking policy has been cleared by the state government and will be implemented soon in a phased manner.
In September, the draft policy was okayed by the AMC’s standing committee which suggested one change, the rule mandating that citizens furnish proof that they have parking space before buying vehicles was dropped. The draft was handed over to the state-level committee which approved it on October 16.
Ahmedabad municipal commissioner Mukesh Kumar said, “The state government approved the parking policy on October 16. We have to keep in mind that road space is limited and the available space has to be managed. The new policy is framed in a way that it caters to the parking needs of specific areas at specific times.”
The civic body will implement the policy in a phased manner as implementation all at once is not feasible, said an AMC official who did not wish to be named. He said AMC will carry out awareness drives before and after implementation of each phase. Under the new policy, monthly and annual permits will be given for common parking plots. The AMC plans to give parking permits covering streets around residential societies.
The new policy encourages sharing of parking space. It states that due to the scarcity of parking space in Ahmedabad and uneven distribution of parking facilities, available space must be used effectively. “Areas such as CG Road, Ashram Road, Paldi, and other CBD areas see a peak in parking demand during office hours, while demand reduces on weekends,” the policy says.
“Parking spaces of office buildings, schools, banks and business parks, malls and parks also see variable use of parking space on weekdays and weekends.” Other vehicles of an area are unable to use these parking spaces due to ownership and jurisdiction issues, the policy says. It says the disparity between supply and demand of parking space can be dealt with by sharing parking spaces.
Also, the new policy makes provisions to encourage sharing of parking space between several buildings and facilities that are close to each other. The office-bearers concerned will have to give no-objection certificates for vehicles.