The Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation is planning to construct at least three more multi-level car parking facilities under its Smart City projects, in an effort to address the parking problems within the city. According to officials of the Smart City Thiruvananthapuram Limited, the proposed locations for two parking lots near Chala market and one at Statue. These are in addition to the two MLCPs which are already at various stages of planning at Medical College and Putharikandam maithanam.
In the next round of development of parking lots, the emphasis will be on Chala market, according to officials. Currently, pedestrians find it hard to navigate through the road that passes through the centre of the market as vehicles are parked haphazardly on either side, leaving only a narrow space for vehicles and people to pass through. As part of the proposed plan, multi-level parking roads have to be constructed closer to the entry points on both sides of the market to reduce congestion inside.
“Parking spaces should be made available on the Attakulangara side as well as at the East Fort side so that hardly any vehicles are parked inside the market. We have identified a space near the warehousing corporation’s office. Another one is near the Powerhouse area, in addition to the one near Putharikandam maithanam. All these together could address the parking needs of the area to an extent,” said an official.
As the Smart City mission period is short, the officials are working towards beginning the tendering process at the earliest. The piling work for a multi-level parking lot at Palayam behind the Saphalyam complex has begun. In April this year, a multi-level parking facility was opened under the Smart City project at Thampanoor in an area of 826 square metre opposite the Central Railway Station on the New theatre road. The first such parking lot was opened inside the Corporation main office compound at Palayam a couple of years back.
Despite the opening of these facilities, wayside parking has not reduced drastically, pointing to the acute shortage of parking space within the city.
