No Parking

Even as another shopping mall and multiplex readies to open its door in Salt Lake’s CK block, residents fear that this will make living in the area difficult

Archisman Dinda, Salt Lake

If mall hopping is a habit that you have mastered, then in a few months time you will have one more venue to hangout in. What with a 300-seater multiplex, along with a 90,000 sq feet of shopping area all set to open its doors in CK block. But this, as the saying goes, is just one side of the coin. The shopping complex which is expected to draw an average footfall of 2,000 people daily has just 30 car parks. The mall that opens into the 2nd avenue in CK block has very little road clearance. This would mean endless traffic snarls in the area and residents have already hit the panic button, even as authorities indulge in an endless blame-game.
“How can the municipality allow an eight-storied commercial building to come up within such a thickly populated residential area?” asked Pinakiranjan Mukherjee, a resident of the area. Indeed, once the shopping mall becomes functional, the large volume of vehicular traffic will make it difficult for residents of the area to drive in and out of their own block. “The plot that has been earmarked for this commercial activity and we had lot of difficulty in accommodating all these facilities,” reasoned Anjan Dutta, the architect of the building.
The ground floor and the first floor of the mall will house a retail chain, while the second floor is expected to address the fashion needs of the city with many international brands setting shop, along with a multi-cuisine food court at the third level. The complex will also house an exclusive club and an array of other facilities. The expected footfall on weekends in expected to touch 4,000 people with at least 300 cars rolling in. And in the absence of proper parking space, a large chunk of the battery of cars will spill over and block arterial road that leads to the block, say residents. And it is not just the probable traffic congestion that is bothering them. “Not only will our block get congested, but the security will also become a major concern as places like these attract a host of people from outside the township,” says Arun Chackraborty, a resident of CK block.
“I am not aware of the parking problem but I will surely find out,” was all that chairman of the Bidhanangar Municipality, Biswajiban Mazumdar was ready to say when asked. However, municipal officials blame the Urban Development (UD) department for this problem.
“The plot has been earmarked by UD as a commercial plot, we were bound to sanction it, and when we sanction the building plan it never states what amount of crowd it will draw. So, we didn’t know it would have a footfall of 4,000 people,” said an official.
PK Pradhan, principal secretary, UD, refutes these allegations. “Irrespective of land pattern, it is the sole right and responsibility of the municipality to decide as to what type of commercial complex it will sanction in accordance to the building laws,”added Pradhan. “Car parking space is allotted not on the basic of footfalls but on the basic of built-up-area and we have sanctioned accordingly,” added another official. Saswati Mondal, councillor, ward No. 13, promises to look into this matter. “It was sanctioned much before I was elected but I will definitely put forward this complain to the chairman,” she assured. As the blame game continues, residents feel that their complaints will fall on deaf ears as all parties involved stand to gain from the entire project.
“While the builder will use maximum space for commercial activity forcing people to use road space as parking lots from which the municipality will collect parking fees,” pointed out a resident.

Source: Times of India