Parking towers in Mumbai can now be covered: BMC

MUMBAI: The BMC has amended development control regulations (DCRs) to allow covered parking towers in the city.

The move was announced by Vinod Chitore, chief engineer of the BMC’S development plan. He said builders had asked for covering of car park towers to protect their mechanical and electrical parts from damage. “Builders are building remote-controlled parking towers nowadays. These delicate machinery were getting damaged due to rains and it is extremely necessary to have covered parking towers. Finally, we have allowed covered parking towers,” he said.

Experts say parking towers are necessary in space-starved Mumbai as they can accommodate many cars.

Satyen Prasad, a techno-legal consultant on real estate, said: “If there is amendment in DCR, an amendment is also needed in the RERA Act for definition of covered parking space and common amenity. For selling parking towers, it is necessary to have amendment in RERA Act.”

Builder Sandeep Runwal said, “It is a very good step and all societies do it to protect the cars. It will help customers.”

Deepak Goradia, president, CREDAI-MCHI, which has 1,800 members across Mumbai Metropolitan Region, praised the move. ”It’s a good move by MCGM. A much needed improvement as mechanical parking is a machine that undergoes wear and tear when exposed to open sky and water. The machine sometimes malfunctions, which can lead to accidents. This move will help protect parking space. This is a timely and well thought out measure by MCGM and kudos to the municipal commissioner and his team for the modification.”

Rajan Bandelkar of Raunak Group and former president of NAREDCO Maharashtra also praised the move. “This will ensure that parking columns as well as customers’ cars are well protected from rain and the sun.”

Tapas Chaturvedi, managing director, Shreepati Group, said: “Many builders, including us, have been facing issues with plenty of customers. When they come to buy a flat they always face issues with the car park, because many of the buildings usually offer only one parking. What if they have two or more cars? The municipal commissioner has come out with a good policy decision in favour of end users. It will sort out a major issue of car parking in buildings