Motorists who line up their vehicles below flyovers can no longer do so. The state urban development department on Thursday issued orders to all planning authorities in the state to ban parking below flyovers with immediate effect. The government orders stated that one of the main reasons for banning parking underneath flyovers is to prevent any potential security risk. Parking of vehicles should not be allowed under flyovers and bridges,where public parking space is available within 200 metres, the order stated. It went on to say that where such public parking is available,on-street parking also should not be allowed. The order also stated that parking below flyovers may also lead to accidents or fires. Besides the security aspect,ban on parking underneath flyovers is important for the safety of road users as also for general aesthetics. Once vehicles are cleared from the space,it could be fenced and developed into gardens that can be maintained by the municipal corporation or private agencies, said TC Benjamin,principal secretary,state urban development department. He said it was also important to issue the orders at this point of time as several new parking lots will be developed by private builders under the newly amended DCR 33 Under the new provision,developers can avail of extra Floor Space Index (FSI) equal to 50% of what the developer constructs and hands over to BMC for the purpose of public parking on a portion of their plot. If people resort to parking below flyovers and on street for free,these new parking lot will not be utilised to its optimum capacity. It would make it unfeasible for the municipal corporation to maintain these lots as the maintenance cost is recuperated from parking charges, Benjamin said. The new orders have been issued under section 154 of the Maharashtra Regional and Town Planning Act. A majority of the flyovers in Mumbai as many as 37 existing and another 14 proposed come under the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC). To ensure compliance,the state government has issued directives to 12 agencies,including MSRDC,all municipal corporations and councils,Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority(MMRDA),City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO),Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (MHADA) and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation(MIDC).
