CUMTA to study parking management in T Nagar

CHENNAI: Even as an exclusive policy to manage parking in the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) is getting ready, the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (CUMTA) has decided to study parking pattern and strategies in T Nagar - the commercial hub of the city.

According to an official, managing parking in T Nagar is a complex exercise due to amount of commercial activities as well as the presence of residential areas. "A study will be conducted to understand the requirement of the T Nagar. Existing on-street parking management and off-street parking system (multi-level car parking) will be studied. Based on the study result, parking management will handled in the locality, " the official said.

Meanwhile, the CUMTA has readied the draft parking policy for the entire CMA extending to 5,904 sqkm. Based on the draft, discussions have been held along with the Greater Chennai Corporation and Chennai Traffic Police to get their suggestions and inputs. The transport authority has decided to discuss with Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA).

"Final version of parking policy will be prepared after receiving inputs from other departments. Discussion will be held with CMDA to include norms mandating sufficient parking space for buildings while giving building plan permissions in the parking policy, " he added.

The parking policy for 5,904 sqkm will be prepared under Chennai City Partnership programme, which is being funded by the World Bank. The transport authority has prepared the draft parking policy after studying the pattern of parking across the metropolitan area.

The parking policy will lay down the regulations and rules for implementation of parking related projects, including the monetization methods, partnerships and other aspects, including on-street and off-street parking management systems.

It may be recalled that the Greater Chennai Corporation proposed to prepare a similar parking policy for the corporation limits that cover 426 sqkm. The state municipal administration and water supply department held a meeting in October 2021, but the proposal was stalled.

Also, an announcement was made by the previous AIADMK government to implement an integrated parking management system at a cost of Rs. 2,000 Crore in the corporation limits remains a non-starter.

Soon after the announcement, the civic body commenced identifying vacant government lands including the land parcels owned by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department.