This Article is From Nov 20, 2010

Parking woes hit businesses in Bangalore

Bangalore: City's busy Avenue Road is facing business hiccups over the last two years as the area has been turned into a 'no parking' zone.

While shopkeepers say business is going down, officials of the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) say they are planning to set up an elevated parking space for cars and two wheelers in the premises. Although the idea is in preliminary stages, it has already drawn criticism from the public and shopkeepers.

Suhas S, a bookseller, said, "The street used to be abuzz with activities. Those days, I had to hire more staff during season to deal with a flood of customers. Retailers used to make bulk orders from us as they could park their vehicles here. Now only a handful students visit our shop even during season.''

Some shopkeepers have shifted their age old businesses from the area in order to survive. Others may follow suit. The upcoming metro construction may take away a part of their space and even displace them.

"There were times when I used to get calls from retailers as early as 7am asking me to open the shop to make their purchases. Now I am forced to go to the doorstep of retailers and customers situated in different parts of the city to get orders," said Dinesh K, a cloth merchant.

"Letters have been sent to the corporation and traffic police many a time requesting for parking space at least on one side of the road. But there has been no reply," he added.

Reacting to the complaints, technical advisor to the BBMP commissioner, H Rajasimha said that parking was removed from the road to make way for free vehicular and pedestrian movement. Now a draft has been prepared for providing elevated parking in 40 prime congested locations of the city including Avenue Road, Commercial Street, MG Road and Brigade Road, he said. Copyright restricted. Under license from www.3dsyndication.com
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