Bhubaneswar, Nov. 4: Car parking will be convenient in all the three administrative zones as the municipal corporation has decided to launch 52 more such on and off-street facilities across the city.

In March, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation had put up 28 on and off-street parking sites across the city - mostly to invite criticism for arbitrary identification of the sites. Residents, at that time, had raised voices over identifying parking lots near medical shops, vending zones and others brief-stay places.

However this time, the new initiative aims to ease the overall traffic scenario across the city by including the administrative zones - five in southwest, nine in north and a highest of 32 in the southeast zone.

The areas include major localities such as Exhibition Ground, Unit-I Market, Asoka Market and Big Bazaar.

The corporation has identified the new parking sites mostly near parks, hotels and hospitals and also on the busy Janpath.

Corporation sources said the new parking lots would be operational by the end of January.

At present, the civic body is operating nearly 46 parking lots after deploying private agents at various locations across the city. Approximately, the corporation parking operators manage about 5,000 cars and double the number of bikes every day.

"There is a need of more parking places across the city. We had conducted a feasibility survey and identified the new sites based on their demand. We have now invited interested agencies or person to take over and maintain the lots," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.

Residents have hailed the move as haphazard parking often poses a serious threat to the traffic, especially during peak hours. Unit-IX resident Biraja Mishra said it was a welcome step to introduce more parking lots in the city. "But, the authority should instruct the operators to guard the vehicles instead of only collecting money. We have to park our vehicles at various places to ensure its safety. The operator concerned should ensure it," said Mishra, a government employee.

There is a rising concern over arbitrary collection of money, arguing with the commuters and not guarding the vehicles at many parking lots in the city. Citizens often complain about stolen helmets, which they leave with their bikes while parking. They also complain about collection of money for brief-stays for about some minutes or so.

"The city administration should issue an uniform guideline for the parking operators for smooth management of the lots. The civic body should adopt a similar method opted by the airport of free parking for up to five minutes to avoid problems. They should also ask the operators to issue proper tickets and behave well with the people," said Chandrasekharpur resident Umakant Rath.

In a related development, officials of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited are planning to build one more multi-storey parking lot at Saheed Nagar on the Janpath under the Smart City Project. Earlier last month, the officials had decided to construct the first such facility near Unit-II Haat - for which the detail project report is under preparation, according to sources.

"Janpath is one of the major stretches which house a number of offices, malls, commercial complexes and so on. More people daily commute in this part of the city. The present practice of on-street parking here often creates trouble in traffic management, hence we are planning to construct a multi-storey facility here," said an official of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited.

Nayapalli resident Upasana Dutta said parking vehicle on Janpath was a tough task, as it often remained full and the on-street ones, mainly near the Pantaloons and the Central Mall, were already contributing to traffic snarls. "There is an urgent need of a centralised parking facility on Janpath. However, the administration should chose the site carefully as this is not a small stretch," said Dutta.

"The year is going to be over. We have been instructed to prepare the upcoming draft annual budget. In the last council meeting, we had been asked to increase the earning and ensure proper collection of user fees. Parking charges is a part of it," said a civic body official.

The civic body earns about Rs 10 lakh towards parking fees every month.