Ruling over parking lots

When Rajesh R moved into the apartment in Ambattur 15 years ago, the compact parking area was enough to accommodate the residents’ two-wheelers. However, over the last few years, there is a huge space crunch as many of the households have upgraded to four-wheelers, but have no space to park their vehicles. Speaking of his ordeal, Rajesh said, “Most of us end up parking on the road, which is not a safe option. Many times, I found scratches or dents in my car. I ended up spending a lot on repairs over the years. Now, I’ve moved to an independent house with ample parking.”

In the city’s older apartments, parking woes are a common affair. For Nivya V, a 29-year-old software professional living in Chinmaya Nagar in Virugambakkam, parking is a hassle as there are only limited four-wheeler parking spots in an eight-apartment complex. “The entrance to the complex doubles up as parking space for the two-wheelers. Also, since this is an older building, the parking spaces are narrow. While I had my earlier car, which was an Alto, it was fine. Now that I have upgraded to a bigger vehicle, there is barelyenough space to park the car,” she added.

The cars being parked on the road are posing a problem for other residents of the vicinity. “Nowadays people flout the rules when building apartment complexes. Right opposite to my home is a three-storeyed apartment complex without any parking facility. Considering the size of the road it is mandatory for the apartment complex to incorporate stilt car parking space. However, the building was constructed without this facility and the tenants are forced to park on the road. This causes inconvenience for all the residents of the colony,” rues Shamila Thomas, a resident of Adyar. 

Advocate, columnist and media professional Sanjay Pinto recalled an unpleasant experience when a car parked in front of his gate was an obstruction during an emergency. “There has been a vehicle explosion as most households have at least two cars and not enough parking space. People end up parking on the road and in front of people’s gates, which can be inconvenient. When I had to rush my children to the doctor, there was a car parked in front of my house, locking us in. we couldn’t take our car out and had to rely on cabs. People need to be sensitive to other’s needs,” said the legal expert. 

The lacunae in parking spaces in residential complexes has also affected the visitors. While some apartments do provide space for visitor’s parking, many lack this feature, forcing people to leave their vehicles on the road. Deepa Aathreya, Founder, School of Success, relies on app-based cab services if she is visiting someone in an apartment complex. “Once we had parked our brand-new car on the road, since the apartment we were visiting had no provision for visitors. We returned to find a huge dent, after which we stopped doing so,” she said.

Prakash K, a media professional, was aghast, when he returned to find his vehicle locked by the resident’s welfare association. “I was visiting a relative living in the apartment and was shocked when the association people asked me to pay a fine of Rs 300. It was so ridiculous as I had done nothing wrong and there were no clear instructions,” he fumed. 

The resident associations, on the other hand, said they had to enforce strict rules to ensure visitors’ vehicles were parked in the designated area and didn’t inconvenience the residents. Balaji Seshadri, the Joint Secretary of the association of the Rani Meyyammai Towers in MRC Nagar, said, “There is a separate visitor’s parking lot, clear guidelines and security personnel present to offer directions. Despite that, we have had many instances of visitors parking in the ‘No Parking’ area or in someone else's spot. We first alert the person, who is visiting the apartment. If they don’t comply, we lock the vehicle and impose a fine of Rs. 500. After these rules, the number of incidents have come down,” said the 38-year-old management consultant. 

Inadequate parking space has deterred many from buying their second four-wheeler. Vidya T, an employee with the technical wing of an international bank, wanted to buy a car for an easy commute to work. But that was quickly shelved due to unavailability of parking space in her apartment. “We have one car at home but my husband uses that for commuting to work. We wanted to buy another car for me, but couldn’t because there is only limited parking space in our apartments. So, I take a cab from Vadapalani to OMR daily and spend a fortune,” she rued.

Advocate Sanjay Pinto said that the apartment residents associations have no mandate to lock vehicles belonging to others. “The apartment resident associations are registered under the Societies Registration Act and they can have their own by laws, as far as they are within the ambit of the Constitution. The idea is to ensure an orderly living within the community. But the association has no right to clamp a car or impose a fine. That can only be done by law enforcement agencies. All they can do is inform the traffic police and it is up to the officials to clamp the car. If they do lock another person’s car, they are breaching the law. As per the Supreme Court, one cannot sell a parking lot. But every builder sells out the parking lot, charging between Rs 2-5 lakh,” he commented.