Off-street parking for coaching classes mooted

PUNE, Sept 10: A study group of experts from the Pune Municipal Corporation and organisations representing developers, architects and cit...

PUNE, Sept 10: A study group of experts from the Pune Municipal Corporation and organisations representing developers, architects and citizens that has recommended upward revision in off-street parking norms for different types of buildings on Thursday proposed separate rules for coaching and allied classes mushrooming all over the city and creating traffic congestion.

The committee, under the chairmanship of Vijay Kale, chairman, Pune Housing and Area Development Board, has representation from the Promotors and Builders Association of Pune PBAP, Architects Engineers and Surveyors Association AESA, Pune Municipal Corporation and the Express Citizens8217; Forum. It has already submitted the first instalment of its recommendation to Municipal Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad who has promptly enforced on August 9 recommendations made in case of residential buildings, lodging establishments including multi-star hotels, restaurants, hospitals, assembly halls, educational buildings, government and semi-government offices and industrial units.

The committee at its meeting on Thursday deliberated formulation of separate rules for coaching classes which come up in commercial and residential buildings. It has been observed that these classes attract a greater number of trainees using their personal vehicles than a commercial establishment or a residential tenement of the same area. This additional requirement is not taken into consideration when a building is constructed. A coaching class or a training institute coming up in part of a buildings, therefore, leads to serious spill over of vehicles on public roads and creates hazardous traffic congestion.

A similar situation arises when a restaurant is opened in part of a commercial building. But before a restaurant is allowed to start business, it is mandatory for the owner to obtain no-objection certificates NOC from various authorities. The experts committee, therefore, earlier recommended that at that stage a separate NOC from the traffic planner of the municipal corporation be made mandatory in case of such restaurants and that while granting the NOC the traffic planner should ascertain that the additional parking space required by the restaurant as per the norms for that category is available in the commercial building.

A coaching class or other such isolated educational activity not having its own building, however, never had to seek any NOC from the civic body. The committee has now proposed that a registration with the municipal corporation be made mandatory for all educational establishments having more than 10 students or trainees on roll who pay fees. It should be mandatory for these establishments, as in case of restaurants, to obtain an NOC from the civic traffic planner before commencing their activity in any building and that they will have to show that additional off-street parking space is provided for in the buildings they are located.

The required parking space should be calculated not going by the norms for commercial or residential buildings, in which these may be located, but by the more stringent norms applicable to educational buildings.

If this recommendation is accepted by the Pune Municipal Corporation, Pune will be the first city in the country to have framed and enforced separate off-street rules for coaching classes and allied sporadic educational outfits located in buildings not entirely owned by them.