Parking rates for south Mumbai may increase fivefold

MUMBAI: Mumbai residents may soon have to pay five times more to park their vehicle in busy areas like south Mumbai’s Fort, Bandra Kurla Complex, Lower Parel and Goregaon. The idea, the Mumbai civic body said, is to get more commuters to use public transport and bring down congestion created by cars parked on the roads.

“We are t hi nking about increasing the parking fees in business hubs during peak hours to discourage Mumbaiites from bringing their own cars,” said Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) commissioner Ajoy Mehta. The plan is also BMC’S way to work around implementing a congestion tax — charging every vehicle entering a busy area like a business district — which the public is likely to oppose.

The BMC will not immediately start charging people more for parking.

For now its parking authority, an enforcing body in the early stages of formation, is mapping Mumbai’s wards to spot where spaces are available, how many cars use these spaces and at what time.

THE IDEA IS TO MAKE PEOPLE USE PUBLIC TRANSPORT TO CREATE SPACE ON THE ROAD