Pay Rs 10,000 a month to park car at Kamala Mills Limited

But despite paying the exorbitant amount, you get to park your vehicle only if there is space available at Kamala Mills Limited complex at that time

The Kamala Mills Limited expects you to pay Rs 10,000 a month for parking your car in their compound at Lower Parel, and Rs 2,000 per month if it's a bike. That's not all even after paying the exorbitant amount, you get parking space only if it is available at that point of time.



Earlier, there were no charges for parking in the Kamala Mills Limited'su00a0compound. Currently, the space meant for parking two-wheelers is occupied by construction material.u00a0

A notice issued by the firm (see top right) on September 10 reads: "To curb unauthorised parking, we have decided to levy car parking charges of Rs 10,000 per vehicle per month and will be allowed to park their cars as per availability of space in the complex."

A similar notice for two-wheelers issued on December 18 states that the police department would like to stop the parking of two wheelers inside the Kamala Mills compound, and demands that all two-wheeler owners are required to pay Rs 6,000 upfront for parking stickers three months in advance.

When MiD DAY contacted Nilesh Karle, an administration officer of Kamala Mills Limited, he said, "I am not the one to speak to. Our management decides the fee." Karle refused to put us through an officer who could comment on the issue, and did not answer subsequent calls.

Professionals whose offices are situated in the mills compound termed the parking charges 'unreasonable and ridiculous'. "They just want to rid the compound of all two-wheelers," said a biker, who parks his bike under the Kamala Mills flyover.

Space crunch is the problem
Private bodies should allow people who work in or visit to park their vehicles within the premises. It is their responsibility to monitor and ensure the security of these vehicles. Small areas of underground parking could be a solution to parking problems.
- Jagdeep Desai
A member of the Unified Mumbai Metropolitan Transport Authority

Charging Rs 10,000 per month per car is exorbitant. Such is the parking space crunch that people hire drivers whose only job is to look for free parking space, and drive away when the police approach them. There are around 60,000 new cars in the city per year; we need to take the parking issue seriously.
- Ashok Datar
Transport analyst,u00a0Mumbai environment u00a0social network

I'm not for a uniform parking charge policy. The charges should depend on the area, employment or commercial density. Charging exorbitant u00a0parking fees will u00a0discourage people from using their cars and force them to use public u00a0transport. But we also need to develop a good public transport system at the u00a0same time.
- Sudhir Badami
Civil engineer andu00a0transport analyst