Pune: Six Years On, PMC’s ‘Pay and Park’ Proposal Still Awaits State Government Approval

Pune, 13th September 2024: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) submitted a proposal in July 2018 to the state government to introduce a ‘Pay and Park’ system on six major roads: Jangali Maharaj Road, Namdar Gopalkrishna Gokhale (FC) Road, North Main Road (Lanes 5, 6, 7), Aundh DP Road and its vicinity, Balewadi High Street, and Viman Nagar. However, six years latser, the proposal has yet to receive approval.

With the number of vehicles rapidly increasing in Pune and limited parking spaces available, drivers often have to travel far from their destinations in search of parking, particularly those with four-wheelers. In response to this issue, the PMC decided in 2018 to implement ‘Pay and Park’ zones on major roads, creating designated parking areas.

These zones were categorized into low-traffic ‘Zone A’, medium-traffic ‘Zone B’, and high-traffic ‘Zone C’, with hourly parking rates fixed accordingly. For Zone A, four-wheelers would be charged ₹10 and two-wheelers ₹2. In Zone B, four-wheelers would be charged ₹15 and two-wheelers ₹3, while in Zone C, four-wheelers would pay ₹20 and two-wheelers ₹4 per hour. The initiative was expected to launch once the policy was finalized.

A committee of party leaders, chaired by the Mayor, was formed to select roads for the ‘Pay and Park’ initiative, but it never convened a meeting. Despite ongoing communication between officials, no decision was made about which roads to prioritize. The proposal was further delayed by events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2019 assembly elections.

Despite the pressing need for organized parking solutions, the ‘Pay and Park’ proposal remains stuck in administrative limbo.