Raipur, October 02, 2010
Parking has always been a major problem of the capital and even in ten years of the establishment of Chhattisgarh state, neither any of the responsible authorities including district administration, Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) and Traffic Police, nor the state government has succeeded in framing suitable parking policy that could match the road network and vehicular growth of the city.
Of course, the parking problems faced by Raipurians are not unique, but common in most of the Indian cities as there is a limited scope of increasing parking supply on busy arterial roads of the capital. In addition, the conversion of open and green spaces into commercial activity with limited provisions of parking has seriously affected the capacity of the main roads. The demand of parking at these locations always remains high in spite of scarce available space. The rising demand for parking is also due to increase in vehicle ownership, especially four-wheelers.
But why parking problems remained unsolved for years? It happened because the policymakers ignored the practical complications of the capital and merely copied the ideal parking concepts of big cities. Actually, the parking demand in capital is predominantly short term and is served mostly with on-street provisions. On road stretches along Malviya road, MG road, Sadar Bazar road, GE road and Gol Bazar area, the demand exceeds the supply. It is important to note that parking is consuming a lot of expensive road space otherwise meant for traffic movement.
Any fresh supply of on-street parking would result into negative benefits to road traffic. It is important to understand this aspect and construction of off-street lots should be accorded due thought and top priority.
There is high parking demand and most of the roads allow for on-street parking on both sides of the kerb. Further there are no licensed off-street parking facilities except a few small parking lots of RMC at Jawahar Gate and old bus stand.
Besides, no action has been taken against those who have raised multi-storeyed commercial complexes in the busy marketplaces of the city either sans parking space at basement or by illicitly constructing shops in the basement area. With no parking lots in these edifices, the motorists recklessly park their vehicles on roads knowing that the traffic police would not take more than 20-30 bucks from them to release their vehicles.
But why the civic administration is not taking action against buildings without parking facilities? It is because whenever it attempts to display grit by sealing the basements of some of the edifices and demolish the shops constructed illegally in the space meant for parking, the politicos mount pressure on it to retreat. According to an estimate, more than 80 percent of the commercial buildings constructed in the downtown Raipur do not have parking facility.
To deal the parking problem, the RMC hired the consultancy agency RITES that recommended it to construct multi-storeyed parking zones in the city and suggested Jawahar Gate parking lot, old bus stand and Railway station premises as most suitable locations.
The parking area available at Jawahar Gate is about 2400 Sq m and the area required for one car is about 20 Sq m. So number of equivalent car space (ECS) per floor for multilevel parking will be 120. In other words, 120 cars can be parked in each floor. The demand (peak hour accumulation) for equivalent car space available presently at Malviya road (Jaistambh chowk to Kotwali chowk), Gol Bazar area, Banjari road, GE road (Jaistambh chowk to Tatya Para chowk) and half of MG road is 326, 101, 89, 120 & 106 respectively. The total parking demand at all these location is about 835 ECS, therefore, provision for 1000 ECS can be provided by means of multilevel parking at Jawahar Gate. Therefore, the parking zone at Jawahar Gate should at least have eight storeys.
The old bus stand is another spot where multi-storeyed parking is said to be feasible. The parking area available in this location is about 1200 Sq m, so the about 60 four-wheelers could be parked in each floor.
The demand (peak hour accumulation) for equivalent car space presently at old bus stand, GE road (Jaistambh chowk to Shastri chowk), and half of MG road is 69, 180 and 106 respectively. The total parking demand at all these location is about 355 ECS, therefore, provision for 500 ECS may be provided by means of multilevel parking at old bus stand. Therefore, the parking plaza at old bus stand should also have eight storeys.
Similarly, the parking area available at Railway station premises is 2800 Sq m and accordingly the capacity of each floor will be to contain 140 four-wheelers. The demand (peak hour accumulation) for equivalent car space presently at Railway station area and Railway station road is 800 and 109 respectively. Total parking demand at all these location is about 909 ECS, therefore, provision for 1100 ECS should be provided by means of multilevel parking at Railway station. Therefore, the Railway station premises too must have eight storeys.
If automatic multilevel parking will be provided then the area required for one car will get reduce from 20 Sq m to 15 Sq m, hence, the number of storeys required for multilevel parking will get reduce from 8 to 6 storey in all the three locations.
Now, it has been found that median are used for parking purpose along MG road and people also tends to park vehicles on either side of the road, which substantially decreases the effective width of the carriageway and hinders the smooth flow of traffic. If on-street parking on MG Road can be shifted to multi-storeyed parking complexes at old bus stand and Jawahar Gate and a median of 0.25 m be provided which will increase the effective width of carriageway ensuring the smooth flow of traffic in both directions.
Since, the problem of parking space also persists at Gol Bazar area and Banjari road, hence the vehicles can be parked at proposed multi-storeyed parking zone at Jawahar Gate. The RITES further recommends that Gol Bazar area should be declared as street only for pedestrians and vehicular movement should be restricted. Similarly, it suggests that Malviya road (Jaistambh chowk to Kotwali chowk), GE road (Tatya Para chowk to Collectorate chowk) and Station road (Fafadih chowk to Telghani Naka chowk) should be declared as no parking zones.
The RITES also suggests that ‘payable on-street parking’ should be provided at 45 degree angle on Jail road, some portion of GE road, KK road, one side of Sadar Bazar road and other locations. At present parking is free in the city and considering the parking demand, especially at roadsides, it would be better to have duration based parking charges for on-street and off-street parking.
No water supply to seven tanks today
Raipur, October 02, 2010
The water supply to seven major tanks of the city will remain disrupted on Sunday owing to leakage in Ravanbhatha-based Filter Plant pipeline. The municipal’s plumbing crew detected the leakage in the pipeline on Saturday morning and promptly started repairing it, informed the Filter Plant incharge office Shyam Kumar Yemde. The repairing work will continue till Sunday morning owing to which the water supply from Filter Plant to the tanks of Rajendra Nagar, Telebandha, Shankar Nagar, Khamtarai, Gudhiyari, Ganj and Dagania would remain disrupted, he said. Yemde hoped that the water supply would be resumed by Sunday evening.
RMC pays tribute to Gandhi, Shastri
Parking has always been a major problem of the capital and even in ten years of the establishment of Chhattisgarh state, neither any of the responsible authorities including district administration, Raipur Municipal Corporation (RMC) and Traffic Police, nor the state government has succeeded in framing suitable parking policy that could match the road network and vehicular growth of the city.
Of course, the parking problems faced by Raipurians are not unique, but common in most of the Indian cities as there is a limited scope of increasing parking supply on busy arterial roads of the capital. In addition, the conversion of open and green spaces into commercial activity with limited provisions of parking has seriously affected the capacity of the main roads. The demand of parking at these locations always remains high in spite of scarce available space. The rising demand for parking is also due to increase in vehicle ownership, especially four-wheelers.
But why parking problems remained unsolved for years? It happened because the policymakers ignored the practical complications of the capital and merely copied the ideal parking concepts of big cities. Actually, the parking demand in capital is predominantly short term and is served mostly with on-street provisions. On road stretches along Malviya road, MG road, Sadar Bazar road, GE road and Gol Bazar area, the demand exceeds the supply. It is important to note that parking is consuming a lot of expensive road space otherwise meant for traffic movement.
Any fresh supply of on-street parking would result into negative benefits to road traffic. It is important to understand this aspect and construction of off-street lots should be accorded due thought and top priority.
There is high parking demand and most of the roads allow for on-street parking on both sides of the kerb. Further there are no licensed off-street parking facilities except a few small parking lots of RMC at Jawahar Gate and old bus stand.
Besides, no action has been taken against those who have raised multi-storeyed commercial complexes in the busy marketplaces of the city either sans parking space at basement or by illicitly constructing shops in the basement area. With no parking lots in these edifices, the motorists recklessly park their vehicles on roads knowing that the traffic police would not take more than 20-30 bucks from them to release their vehicles.
But why the civic administration is not taking action against buildings without parking facilities? It is because whenever it attempts to display grit by sealing the basements of some of the edifices and demolish the shops constructed illegally in the space meant for parking, the politicos mount pressure on it to retreat. According to an estimate, more than 80 percent of the commercial buildings constructed in the downtown Raipur do not have parking facility.
To deal the parking problem, the RMC hired the consultancy agency RITES that recommended it to construct multi-storeyed parking zones in the city and suggested Jawahar Gate parking lot, old bus stand and Railway station premises as most suitable locations.
The parking area available at Jawahar Gate is about 2400 Sq m and the area required for one car is about 20 Sq m. So number of equivalent car space (ECS) per floor for multilevel parking will be 120. In other words, 120 cars can be parked in each floor. The demand (peak hour accumulation) for equivalent car space available presently at Malviya road (Jaistambh chowk to Kotwali chowk), Gol Bazar area, Banjari road, GE road (Jaistambh chowk to Tatya Para chowk) and half of MG road is 326, 101, 89, 120 & 106 respectively. The total parking demand at all these location is about 835 ECS, therefore, provision for 1000 ECS can be provided by means of multilevel parking at Jawahar Gate. Therefore, the parking zone at Jawahar Gate should at least have eight storeys.
The old bus stand is another spot where multi-storeyed parking is said to be feasible. The parking area available in this location is about 1200 Sq m, so the about 60 four-wheelers could be parked in each floor.
The demand (peak hour accumulation) for equivalent car space presently at old bus stand, GE road (Jaistambh chowk to Shastri chowk), and half of MG road is 69, 180 and 106 respectively. The total parking demand at all these location is about 355 ECS, therefore, provision for 500 ECS may be provided by means of multilevel parking at old bus stand. Therefore, the parking plaza at old bus stand should also have eight storeys.
Similarly, the parking area available at Railway station premises is 2800 Sq m and accordingly the capacity of each floor will be to contain 140 four-wheelers. The demand (peak hour accumulation) for equivalent car space presently at Railway station area and Railway station road is 800 and 109 respectively. Total parking demand at all these location is about 909 ECS, therefore, provision for 1100 ECS should be provided by means of multilevel parking at Railway station. Therefore, the Railway station premises too must have eight storeys.
If automatic multilevel parking will be provided then the area required for one car will get reduce from 20 Sq m to 15 Sq m, hence, the number of storeys required for multilevel parking will get reduce from 8 to 6 storey in all the three locations.
Now, it has been found that median are used for parking purpose along MG road and people also tends to park vehicles on either side of the road, which substantially decreases the effective width of the carriageway and hinders the smooth flow of traffic. If on-street parking on MG Road can be shifted to multi-storeyed parking complexes at old bus stand and Jawahar Gate and a median of 0.25 m be provided which will increase the effective width of carriageway ensuring the smooth flow of traffic in both directions.
Since, the problem of parking space also persists at Gol Bazar area and Banjari road, hence the vehicles can be parked at proposed multi-storeyed parking zone at Jawahar Gate. The RITES further recommends that Gol Bazar area should be declared as street only for pedestrians and vehicular movement should be restricted. Similarly, it suggests that Malviya road (Jaistambh chowk to Kotwali chowk), GE road (Tatya Para chowk to Collectorate chowk) and Station road (Fafadih chowk to Telghani Naka chowk) should be declared as no parking zones.
The RITES also suggests that ‘payable on-street parking’ should be provided at 45 degree angle on Jail road, some portion of GE road, KK road, one side of Sadar Bazar road and other locations. At present parking is free in the city and considering the parking demand, especially at roadsides, it would be better to have duration based parking charges for on-street and off-street parking.
No water supply to seven tanks today
Raipur, October 02, 2010
The water supply to seven major tanks of the city will remain disrupted on Sunday owing to leakage in Ravanbhatha-based Filter Plant pipeline. The municipal’s plumbing crew detected the leakage in the pipeline on Saturday morning and promptly started repairing it, informed the Filter Plant incharge office Shyam Kumar Yemde. The repairing work will continue till Sunday morning owing to which the water supply from Filter Plant to the tanks of Rajendra Nagar, Telebandha, Shankar Nagar, Khamtarai, Gudhiyari, Ganj and Dagania would remain disrupted, he said. Yemde hoped that the water supply would be resumed by Sunday evening.
RMC pays tribute to Gandhi, Shastri
Raipur, October 02, 2010
Raipur: The RMC paid rich tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on the occasion of their birth anniversary by garlanding their statutes at Town Hall premises and at Shastri chowk respectively on Saturday. On the occasion, Mayor Kiranmayi Nayak reiterated that the RMC would inscribe the life story of the martyrs and great leaders beside their statues. She said the RMC would also publish the biographies of the martyrs and great leaders of the state who had dedicated their life to the country. She hoped that the younger generation would not only get inspiration from these biographies but they would also adopt the ideals and path shown by the great leaders. The inscription and publication works will be carried out by the Cultural department, she informed. The tribute programme was attended by Congress legislators Amitesh Shukla, Kuldeep Juneja, leader of BJP corporators Subhash Tiwari, Mayor-in-Council (MiC) members, corporators, municipal staffers and Congress leaders and citizens in large number.
Raipur: The RMC paid rich tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on the occasion of their birth anniversary by garlanding their statutes at Town Hall premises and at Shastri chowk respectively on Saturday. On the occasion, Mayor Kiranmayi Nayak reiterated that the RMC would inscribe the life story of the martyrs and great leaders beside their statues. She said the RMC would also publish the biographies of the martyrs and great leaders of the state who had dedicated their life to the country. She hoped that the younger generation would not only get inspiration from these biographies but they would also adopt the ideals and path shown by the great leaders. The inscription and publication works will be carried out by the Cultural department, she informed. The tribute programme was attended by Congress legislators Amitesh Shukla, Kuldeep Juneja, leader of BJP corporators Subhash Tiwari, Mayor-in-Council (MiC) members, corporators, municipal staffers and Congress leaders and citizens in large number.
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