Irregularities loom over BMC-run pay & park facilities

MUMBAI: Even though the public parking areas by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) were built with the idea to safely park cars and bikes at a nominal rate, all is not quite well at many of these dedicated spaces.

One such parking lot is near the Prabhadevi railway station, MCGM pay and park near Elphinstone bridge. The multistorey pay and park facility run by BMC, which is built inside a privately owned tower, has multiple issues concerning the safety of the citizens.

According to a local activist Chetan Kamble – who has been running after the contractor and BMC officials – the parking facility has no electricity and there have been incidents of local youth creating a ruckus at night in the darkness.

The activist claimed to have gotten access to the pay and park’s electricity account number from someone.

“When I checked the pending bills online, it showed an amount of nearly ₹1.2 crore that BMC has to pay to the BEST (The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking),”

he said, adding, “There have been instances of local youth making this their den for drinking and partying inside at night.”

When HT visited the facility, even during the day, the parking lot was very dark and only a few select spots had lights.

An official from G south ward – under whose jurisdiction this parking lot falls – said, “During Covid, we stopped paying the bill for the space. Later we did not have the budget to clear it. Around ₹47 lakh is pending to be paid by BMC and the remaining is to be paid by the contractor.”

Meanwhile, he added, they have made temporary provisions by putting up a generator in the parking area.

“This has become a safety hazard and no one visits here at night. How will a woman ever go and park here?” questioned Kamble.

Based on this report, HT visited some of the parking spaces in the city. While a few were functioning normally, there were a few as well which had grave problems.

A BMC pay and park facility located at Tokershi Jivraj road, Sewri, had a private garage running inside the facility. Three garage workers were seen a car while a few more workers were seen repairing another car.

Mahesh Patil, Assistant Commissioner for the F/South ward – under whose jurisdiction this parking facility falls – claimed that he was not aware of any such situation.

Another parking facility located at Runwal Greens in Bhandup had abandoned 2 wheelers lying inside the facility. It was dimly lit, making it unsafe for citizens to use the facility.

Mahesh Khatwani, a local resident from the area who has used the facility said, “This facility has a pothole just at the beginning of the entrance. The facility management is completely unprofessional and it is unsafe to use this facility at night.”

The Assistant Municipal commissioner of that ward did not respond to calls and messages.

BHUSHAN KOYANDE/HT PHOTO Vehicles inside MCGM Parking area.