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DCC plans to add 3 more parking lots soon

MIZANUR KHAN
With an aim to ease the severe traffic congestion in the capital the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) has planned to increase the number of parking places by the end of this year.
The DCC proposed three more parking places; one in Banani, another in front of Gausia market on the Mirpur Road and the third in Nayabazar in the old quarters of Dhaka.
"A feasibility study on this proposal has already been done. The file is shelved at the high level office. We are waiting for the green signal," said a top official of the DCC asking not to be named.
Presently there are six parking places under the purview of the DCC. They are in Motijheel-Dilkusha, Shantinagar, New Market, Mohammadpur Krishi Market, Baitul Mukarram and Fakirapool.
"But we can accommodate only a few vehicles in these vehicle parks. The numbers of vehicles are increasing and so is the demand for more parking areas," said another official of DCC's urban planning department.
"I used to spend more than 10 minutes to find a place to park my car every morning. Because of the scarcity of parking, I leave the vehicle behind and travel to office by CNG-run autorickshaw," said
Aminul Haq, an officer of a private company in Motijheel who resides in Uttara.
A source at DCC said that although they wanted to go for more parking areas the decision could not be implemented because of objections from the traffic department.
"The DCC does not have to invest any money on the project. The lessees do all work like road marking, setting up small dustbins at the parking spots and appoint workers to collect tolls. We just identify and lease out the plots to various companies," the source said.
But DMP traffic sources are of the view that parking cannot be permitted in all places. Parking depends on the width of the road.
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) carried out a detailed survey on car parking in Motijheel-Dilkusha in 1994. Following suggestions of the study the DCC started the first parking project in Motijheel-Dilkusha in 2000.
The DCC then started operating the Shantinagar parking place in 2002, at Baitul Mukkarram in 2003 and the smallest area in Fakirapool at the end of 2004 under the car-park project. Parking area in New Market was in operation before the implementation of the project.
The parking slot at Motijheel-
Dilkusha is run by L.N Corporation while Selim Corporation controls the area at Baitutal Mukarram. The one at Shantinagar is under the care of Classic Builders. The local association of businessmen looks after Krishi Market. Presently parking tolls in the New Market
area are collected by zone 5 of the DCC.
"The company to which the lease was given could not run the New Market parking area. It filed a case against DCC stating that because of digging along the Mirpur Road it could not use the slot. On the other hand, Bangla-
desh Rifles does not allow car parking at the south end of the market area," an official of the estate department said.
Sources said tolls collected from the six parking areas add only Tk 20 lakh to DCC's total annual revenue of the corporation a year.
"We earn a small sum of money from the parking project, yet continue to do it not to make a fortune but to improve the city's traffic management," said another official.
"The authorities recently installed electronic traffic signals at 59 busy intersections, opened two flyovers for the smooth flow of vehicles, and if we have more parking areas it will help commuters immensely," said an official.
"We did not have a 'parking culture' in our society. People did not want to pay to park their cars, but now the situation has changed and we have to offer better parking facilities," he added.
The planning department intends to introduce metered parking systems as an improvement to the service this year.
"We will install meters at Motijheel-Dilkusha parking place on a pilot project by the end of this year," the source said.
Meanwhile, it is alleged that a sCy'nsdipcatrekdinggrosulpotcso.llects tolls illegally for parking across the city in the name of DCC, and the DCC turns a blind eye to this activity.
When contacted, an official of the DCC on condition of anonymity said: "We can do nothing about this. The Police has to take action and people should be aware of everything happening around them.”