Now, pay Rs 60/hr to park vehicles around Fort, Nariman Point

According to roads department officials, the policy would be implemented on a pilot basis for three months in the A-Ward followed by all the wards in the city. A-Ward includes areas like Fort, Marine Drive and Colaba, among other south Mumbai addresses.

“This is another example of how the Sena-BJP alliance is misusing its strength to pass policies without any discussion. The corporation has passed a policy which will only cause further loss to Mumbaikars,” alleged Rais Shaikh, corporator from the Samajwadi Party.

Under the new policy, the BMC has divided the city into three zones and will be charging people based on the popularity of the plot. The areas are divided into ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ categories — ‘A’ being the costliest at Rs 60 per hour, followed by ‘B’ at Rs 40 and ‘C’ at Rs 20. The “most popular areas” in the ‘A’ category include Fort, Nariman Point and Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Colaba, among other places. The current rates at these places is Rs 20.

“The aim of the policy is to encourage citizens to use public transport. We will study the implementation in the A-Ward, where the major focus will be to study the residents’ parking permit system,” said Additional Municipal Commissioner SVR Srinivas, also in-charge of the roads and traffic department of the civic body. Under the residents’ parking permit system, residents will be allowed to park vehicles between 8 pm and 8 am at one-third the cost of the regular monthly pass.

The policy also brings in a fine of Rs 50 for illegal street parking. The increase in the parking charges will be in place for the next two years, following which the charges will be increased by 10 per cent every two years.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com