Car owners cry for parking lots

Car owners do not have any options other than parking their vehicles in front of the most of the malls and markets. The situation is worsening as the Eid nears.Photo: STAR

The existing parking crisis of the city takes a seriously turn in Ramadan with Eid shopping getting momentum and shopping zones becoming crammed with vehicles.
Shoppers and police blame insufficient parking space in most of the shopping malls for the situation, which is common before every Eid.
Streets adjacent to major shopping areas like New Market, Chadni Chawk, Gausia, Dhanmondi Hawkers Market, Eastern Plaza, Mouchak, Karnaphuli Garden City, Baitul Mukarram Market, Elephant Road, Mirpur Muktijoddha Market and Shah Ali Market virtually get standstill every day with hundreds of vehicles parked there.
Sayedur Rahman, DC-Traffic (South) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said New Market, Chadni Chawk, Gausia, Dhanmondi Hawkers Market, Elephant Road and adjacent places are the most chaotic shopping areas of the city.
“Ahead of Eid the situation turns into a nightmare for us. Durga Puja is also approaching. Both Muslims and Hindus are heading towards shopping malls. We are struggling to enforce traffic rules,” said the lawman who is in charge of the city's most chaotic zones.
“At most malls of the city, street is the only parking option for the car owners. In other malls parking space is either too scanty to meet the need or it is rented for other business purposes clearly violating building code,” Rahman added.
Even the parking space of the DCC-owned Sundarban Market at Gulistan is also rented to variety of stores forcing vehicles to park on the streets, he mentioned.
Rahman explained that most malls with parking space are built in an unscientific way. They are too close to the street, creating traffic congestion regularly in front of them. There is no bay area in front of the malls. Most cars have to wait in lines on the street before entering the parking zone, creating gridlock on the streets.
He said a modern city must have around 30 percent traffic infrastructures. In Dhaka it is only around 7 to 8 percent but 40 percent of this insufficient structure is encroached by shops or building materials.
Vehicle owners, on the other hand, are in dilemma as they have no other option but to park vehicles on the streets most of the time. They also alleged that they are constantly being harassed by traffic sergeants with fines.
“If I have a car I must park it somewhere. If there is no parking space I have to park it on the streets. I cannot leave it at home as getting a vehicle back home is impossible especially during Ramadan”, said a Moghbazar resident who was fined Tk 200 last week for illegal parking on Elephant Road.
During the last couple of years the city saw a chaotic growth of multi-storeyed shopping malls, and most of them were built without adequate parking space.
The situation has taken a worse turn as the number of car is increasing in the city. Cars have become affordable to middle income group in recent time.
According to estimation by Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, around 100 newly registered cars are hitting the city streets every day.
Prof KM Moniruzzaman of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) said, “The ratio of car ownership among the mall users is very high in Dhaka these days and compared to the demand most shopping malls have a very low-standard parking facility.”
Before construction, the mall owners must estimate the ratio of visiting cars with the proposed parking facility.
The building code require builders to reserve a 23-sqm parking space for a 200-sqm commercial building and in case of shopping complexes 23 sqm for every 100 sqm. Almost all the shopping malls defy the rules.
The professor added that in the master plan there were enough open spaces in the city meant for parking, majority of which are now gone. DCC either built something on it or leased it out for other purposes.
The professor suggested building commercial parking facilities. “But it has be well distributed in the city areas so that it does not create pressure on one particular area.”
He said developing a mass public transport system is a must in the long run. In this way people can easily take a public transport to shopping malls without worrying about parking.