PAY & PARK: Charges to be levied
Of the four Parking Zones in Mulund, the one at Runwall Greens has started levying parking charges from the vehicle owners. This Parking Zone was initially started as a pilot project as a free parking zone for 3 months. However, all that has changed and the vehicle owners will now have to shell out parking charges. The initial response to the free parking zone was good, but what will be the scenario now in the Pay & Park scheme remains to be seen.
In order to provide relief to vehicle owners, Mulund’s T-Ward had launched 4 Pay & Park zones in different areas, but implementation was difficult owing to the dearth of security personnel. This led to the Pay & Park zones remaining unutilised. Thereupon, BMC T-Ward came up with a plan to make the parking zones free for the first three months for which adequate publicity was made. Therefore, the Parking Zone at Runwall Greens was kept free of charges for the initial 3 months. However, this 3-month period has lapsed and parking charges are being levied here now. Accordingly, Rs. 20 for 12 hours will be levied on two-wheelers and Rs. 400 for the whole month. Similarly, three-wheelers will have to shell out Rs. 30 for a 12-hour period and Rs. 600 for one month. Other vehicles will be charged at Rs. 50 for 12 hours and Rs. 1,500 for the whole month.
On the other hand, the vehicle owners are demanding better facilities from T-Ward if parking charges are to be levied. At some places the toilet facilities are inadequate and, the toilets being dirty, cannot be used. Moreover, the vehicle owners have raised serious security concerns at this parking zone. CCTV cameras have been installed only at the entrance and are insufficient within the parking zone itself. This could lead to untoward incidents like thefts, etc. Safety of the parked vehicles should get top priority, demand the owners.
