Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai (SR)

Mumbai, Jul 10: The residents of Lower Parel and the surrounding areas held a protest meet on Tuesday afternoon against Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) new rule to penalize motorists parking their vehicles within a 500-metre radius of a public parking lot in the city.

Starting July 7, owners of heavy vehicles such as trucks, tempos, buses, cars and bikes are being slapped with fines ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 15,000 by the BMC, if found within 500 meters of the over 20 public parking lots (PPL) in the city. The civic body plans to impose a heavy fine on illegal parking to eliminate traffic jams. As part of the second phase of the initiative the civic body has already begun to identify arterial roads, other than those around PPLs, to be marked as no parking zones.

As reported in TOI, residents said that many of them have been living in the locality for several decades and their colonies have no adequate parking facility. One of the residents Sunil Waradkar, told TOI that the situation in this area is such that most of the people live in chawls and have no parking within the area. Boys with motorcycles have no option, but to park on the road. "It is unfair for BMC to penalize motorists in such a manner."