Bhubaneswar, Nov. 30: The city administration plans to introduce designated on and off street parking lots at intervals of 200 and 500 metres on major thoroughfares here.
Sources said the streets likely to have the facility were Janpath, Siripur to Fire Station Square, Power House to CRP Square, Power House to Jayadev Vihar Square, Kalinga Hospital to Damana Square and Power House to Governor's House Square.
The plan will be executed under the Smart City project. "The city has a vehicle population of about one lakh excluding two-wheelers. There is a dearth of parking space, which is resulting in creation of undesignated parking spots. Hence it was decided to identify and create enough parking space for vehicles," said an official of Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL).
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) operated 46 on and off-street parking lots, while it recently decided to set up another 52 such facilities across the city. "We have enough parking facilities at various places in the city. Even then, there is need for more such facilities," said mayor Ananta Narayan Jena.
"We have already identified congested places such as markets, parks, cinemas and hospitals that will have the new parking facilities. In the next phase, we are going to pick major roads on which we will also designate parking lots. This would not only help citizens, but also contribute to our revenue," said the mayor.
The city administration, which had decided to have a multi-level parking facility at Unit II, will have one more such facility at Saheed Nagar on the Janpath. "We have discussed modalities about the two multi-storey parking facility in the city. The areas chosen are based on the flow of traffic in the two zones," said municipal commissioner Krishan Kumar.
The administration will spend Rs 60 crore for the parking lot at Unit II, while Rs 65 crore will be spent for the other facility at Saheed Nagar. "We have already got approval from the government for the parking lots at Unit II and Saheed Nagar. The proposal for the project will be put up by December and the tenders floated by the end of January," said Kumar.
The decision to streamline the parking system was taken at a high-level meeting of top officials with chief secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi yesterday at the state secretariat. The officials have also decided to redevelop Janpath as a "smart road" by introducing modern traffic lights with pelican system, lane-driving facility, proper zebra lines and more. The proposal for 'Smart Janpath' will be ready by December 15, sources said.
"The city has been declared the winner in the smart city challenge in January. It had got its first instalment to execute the planned projects. I fail to understand what is causing the delay in executing the projects? Instead of chairing meetings, the administration should ensure execution of the projects at the ground level," said Badagada resident Kamala Patra.
