Mumbai: Amid the hue and cry over the hefty fines imposed by the BMC, the civic body has clarified that its aim to make Mumbai less congested and not to earn money. The civic body in an official statement has said it is only trying to reduce the congestion from all the nook and corners of the city. This is for the first time that the BMC has defended its decision to impose hefty fines on illegally parked vehicles. Senior civic official said the purpose of imposing fines and towing charges is not to generate any revenue by BMC, rather to bring discipline for not to park vehicles on roads which is causing obstruction to free flow of traffic.
“We started this policy only in and around 500metre of public parking lot (PPL) where parking facility is available. We have 29 PPL’s having parking capacity of approx 30000 vehicles. So when parking facility is available then why not to park vehicles only, which will help in reducing congestion on the road,” said officials. The towing charges includes storage charges and overhead charges. However the towing charges given to the contractor is based on tender approved by traffic police, which is around Rs 400 per vehicle.
BMC officials claimed the decision has been taken in benefit of citizens as it will reduce congestion on roads and not to generate any revenue. “We would be very happy if no vehicle is parked in and around 500 m of PPL, where parking facility is available and even if we don’t get any towing charges and fine,” added official.
