No end to parking woes at New Panvel

ROAD MESS High auto fare forces commuters to go to Panvel railway station on bikes but there is no space to park

PANVEL: There is acute shortage of parking space on the New Panvel side of Panvel railway station. The limited space available for a large number of vehicles that arrive at the railway station is leading to major problems in the area.

Motorists in the area have begun parking their vehicles in front of the buildings nearby. There are also instances of two-wheelers and four-wheelers being parked inside the housing society compounds by the motorists who travel to Mumbai by train.

This has upset the local residents while traffic snarls have also become an issue in the area due to haphazard parking. Residents complain that neither Cidco nor the railway administration have taken any measure to resolve the issue.

Panvel railway station is an A grade station which will soon become a junction. Apart from the residents of Panvel, the working population living in New Panvel, Sukapur, Adai, Akurli, Vichumbe and Nere too makes use of the train services.

Also, since the long-distance trains halt at Panvel, there is a huge rush of commuters at the railway station.

Mahesh Kriplani, a regular commuter, who parks his bike in the area, said: “As the autorickshaw fare is high, a large number of people prefer going to the railway station on their twowheelers. There are also several who come on four-wheelers.”

He added, “A large section of the commuters to Panvel railway station comes from New Panvel. Hence, the railways has provided a 1,300 sqm parking lot on the New Panvel side. However, since the space is small, by 9am the parking lot is packed with vehicles, leaving little space for others. The Cidco parking lot next to it too is proving to be inadequate due to its size.”

Girish Dudhane, a local resident, said that because of insufficient parking lots by the railway and Cidco, motorists park their vehicles on both sides of the road from Omkar arcade to CKT School.

“With no space in the parking lot, motorists park their vehicles wherever they get space. As a result, vehicles get parked at one spot for almost 10 hours every day. This creates problems for normal flow of traffic all day,” said Dudhane.

The buildings on the road that do not have entrance gates to their compound are easily accessible for motorists, who park vehicles on their premises.

BACHCHAN KUMAR Bikes parked in a small space outside Panvel railway station. A Panvel railway official said, “Decision on building parking lots is taken at a high level and hence we cannot comment on it.” Former Panvel Municipal Council president Sunil Mohade...