Pakistan Realog

The country’s first parking plaza has reportedly received a lukewarm response from people. Nearly two months after it started operation, the new parking plaza built by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), has only 80 permanent parkers and receives an additional 50 customers daily.

Meanwhile, officials concerned have made several roads in the area no-parking zones, triggering anxiety among parts of the public because the plaza cannot accommodate the increased parking pressure during Ramazan. Residents of nearby areas have also been asked to not park their vehicles on the roads, and to use the plaza instead.

Orders to make Saddar parking-free were initially signed on August 8 for a period of seven days by City Naim Mustafa Kamal. The matter was subsequently referred to the home ministry to issue permanent orders. Currently, efforts to make Saddar parking-free stand suspended, but it is expected that orders from the home ministry will come through any day. The general manager of the parking plaza has blamed the lack of cooperation from the police for the ineffective implementation of the ban.

With Ramazan already here, however, Saddar will face an extremely high number of shoppers, many of who will need parking places for their vehicles.

A total of nine sections of Saddar, near the CDGK parking plaza, had been stipulated as no-parking zones between 10 am and 10 pm. These areas include Preedy Street, Shahrah-e-Iraq, Mansfield Street, a section from Sarwar Shaheed Road to Price Street (the road leading to the Saddar Dawa Khana after turning off M.A Jinnah road from Sea Breeze Hospital).

The banned areas cover the busy centres of Rainbow Centre, Empress Market, Capital Cloth market, Regal square, GPO, Paradise Hotel, Zaibunissa Street, Zainab Market, Bohri Bazaar, and Tibet Centre. These places witness a swell in traffic during the day and in the evening as they cater to offices, stores and markets of almost every item. During Ramazan, people from all over Karachi throng this part of the city for Eid shopping. No less than 5,000 vehicles seek parking in this area during the peak Eid rush. The parking plaza has accommodation for 700 four-wheelers and 500 two-wheelers in two basements and five storeys. An additional open air roof parking is also available. This, however, is reserved for offices on the sixth and seventh floor of the plaza.

The Parking Plaza is managed by a Houston-based parking management company, Warsi Allied Parking System USA. Its representative and general manager of the plaza, Khawaja Shahrukh Alam, told The News that some Christian residents from nearby areas were satisfied with the security arrangements within the parking centre, which has more than 100 cameras which scan every vehicle that enters the plaza. He said that according to the feedback that he had received, people actually felt safer parking their vehicles in the centre rather than in the street.

The CDGK has stipulated a fee of Rs1,000 per month for a four-wheel vehicle and Rs600 for a two-wheeler. The fee for other customers has been kept at Rs20 for two hours for four-wheelers and Rs10 for eight hours for two-wheelers. The rates are due to be imminently revised to Rs30 for two hours for four-wheelers. A fee of Rs5 will be charged for every subsequent hour of parking.

The police, however, seems to be unkind towards the cause of the CDGK as they continue to allow the “parking mafia” to rule the streets. Many sectors in the areas due to be made no-parking zones have small groups of people who charge around Rs30 from each vehicle to clean, park and protect it. Alam alleged that the traffic and regular police are not keen on having these parkers removed because they get monetary benefits.

CDGK EDO Transport and Communication S. Hyder Ali, on the other hand, has cited the recent friction between the Community Wardens and pushcart vendors in Saddar as a major obstacle to the plan.

Source: The News

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