in the face of stiff opposition from consumer forums, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (nmc) has approved four of the 72 proposed pay-and-park zones.
Vehicles can now be parked along the stretch between Khamla Chowk and Punjab National Bank in Pande Lay Out, between Gajanan High
School and Mhalgi Nagar Square in Mhalgi Nagar, between Bombay Garments and Central Avenue Road and between Pachpaoli bridge and
Thakkat Gram. nmc plans to approve 20 more parking zones soon.
The city faced parking space crunch in 1999-2000, when the Maharashtra government took up a n ambitious road-widening exercise under the
Integrated Road Development Programme. The design did not include parking space; instead, swallowed the road-side space for two-wheelers.
In 2002, the Mumbai High Court (Nagpur bench) asked nmc to create pay-and-park zones to solve the problem.
nmc approved a proposal in November 2007.
The scheme, however, is not justified, says Rajesh Jagtap, secretary of Citizen's Forum. "nmc did not create
special parking lots. It is charging money for parking along the roadside within the yellow line, which was originally meant for slow-moving
vehicles," says Jagtap. Praful Gudadhe, the opposition leader in nmc, says the bulk of road traffic in Nagpur
constitutes two-wheelers. Hence, parking should be free for motorists, he says.
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