Despite multiple crackdowns and court orders, the parking issue continues to haunt residents across Pune city. During a tour by the Free Press Journal, several by-lanes were found to have no parking space left, with diminishing greenery in narrow lanes. The city's rapid urbanisation and the construction of multi-story buildings equipped with bigger slider gates for entry and exit are causing parking woes for residents.
The installation of bigger slider gates, designed for convenience, has become a major hindrance. These gates necessitate clearance areas, leaving the already constrained lanes with no room for roadside parking. P1 and P2 parking make no sense in these by-lanes because there is hardly any space left for parking and for greenery.
Residents lament the loss of greenery, once a hallmark of these neighborhoods. Ashutosh Bhonsale expressed his dismay, "We've seen a steady decline in parking availability and green spaces in areas like Ideal Colony and Kanchan Galli, one of the by-lanes of Law College road. These slider gates might offer security, but they've turned our lanes into concrete jungles, and we are left with no parking space."
No trees on roads
"In about 3 years from now, both sides of this and other such by-lanes will be end-to-end. No place for trees along the road and no place to park. Not too many people have realised what a problem it is in the making; by the time they wake up, it will be too late," he added.
Another resident of Kothrud, Mahesh Gajendragadkar, told the Free Press Journal, "Initially, old constructions had compound walls and smaller gates, and vehicles could be parked following P1 and P2 parking rules. But under the name of redevelopment, multi-story buildings have installed slider gates, leaving no space for parking. Also, the lanes are still the same, 6m-9m wide. The lanes should also be widened along with the other developments. A lot of commercial buildings are mushrooming inside Prabhat Road and Saras Baug area, and parking is a huge problem there."
Bipin Shinde, executive engineer at PMC, said, "We take this issue into consideration, and we have a route map planned. We are busy due to elections, but surely we will look into the matter."
