Kolkata: Car owners who don’t have a private parking space have started applying to the Kolkata Municipal Corporation to book a night parking slot on the road. According to a KMC official, the civic body has put under scrutiny 21 among all applications received since Monday after the department initiated online application for booking. According to a KMC official, the response to the civic night parking scheme has been encouraging.
The applications have come from Alipore, New Alipore, Ballygunge, Survey Park, Rajdanga Main Road, Jadavpur and Survey Park among other areas. “We have started a scrutiny of the applications and have found most to be valid. Applicants may be allotted space after paying a fee,” said a KMC official. According to the official, the department has also received several manual applications, including from prime residential areas in north and central Kolkata.
According to a newly devised norm, all a car owner needs to do is apply online to book a parking space after giving a self-declaration about the ownership of the car. After a spot visit, if the KMC inspectors find the road is 18ft wide and the space suitable for keeping cars at night, they will send a report to the car parking department bosses.
The KMC will then allot a space against a payment of Rs 6,000 a year. The KMC will issue a permission sticker to the applicant, which will be renewed annually.
In a bid to legalise the night parking in neighbourhoods, the KMC inspectors will find more roads that are 18ft wide and can accommodate several cars at a time. However, the KMC inspectors have been asked to identify areas where four-wheelers are being parked at night in large numbers without KMC permission.
“We have decided to issue a warning to the car owners against unauthorized parking. If they don’t fall in line, we will tow away the vehicles,” said a KMC official.
According to an official, residential neighbourhoods alone account for around 30,000 four-wheelers, which are parked illegally at night.
