Five years ago, your boss would laugh at you if you were late for work and said that you couldn’t find a space to park your car. Today, this excuse would probably work.
With an average of seven new cars entering the capital city everyday, vehicle numbers have increased to the extent that getting parking space is well nigh impossible. Thimphu has 24,574 vehicles, enough to accommodate all the city’s 80,000 residents.
Yet there is no clear solution in sight.
Concerned agencies that manage traffic and parking say it’s a result of haphazard and unplanned development. The head of urban planning division of Thimphu city corporation, Geley Norbu, said, “We’re living with a problem of the past. It’s an inherited problem of unplanned development.”
Geley said that constructions did not keep provision for parking, which had led to the present situation. Since 2004, according to the city’s municipal development regulations, construction of a building, government or private had to keep setbacks (provisions) such as parking, ventilation and lighting.
But many buildings built after 2004 do not have enough parking space, although there is some space for ventilation and lighting, etc.
With the acute housing shortage, adequate parking space is not a priority for many tenants. People residing in town areas pay parking fees. Meanwhile, the lack of parking spaces has increased vehicle vandalism, accidents and parking rule violations.
Ironically, those responsible to finding a solution say that there is a lack of coordination to find solutions. “It’s necessary to a have proper road lay-out and enough parking spaces. We should have designated parking areas for taxis, city buses, private vehicles and heavy vehicles alike,” said the traffic superintendent of police (SP), major Passang Dorji. “At present, there are only ad hoc parking areas without a right system.”
The SP said that each agency carries out something on its own without consulting the others. “The end result is never seen.” If the present situation continues, there may not be movement of vehicles or people in the coming years because of the lack of space, he said.
Chief engineer of road safety and transport authority (RSTA), Thinley Namgay agreed that the problem today is mainly because of the lack of coordination. “If all the agencies, like TCC, traffic, building and vehicle owners work together, then we should be able to handle the issue,” he said, adding that, apart from the meetings held from time to time, there was no solution.
“Just penalising drivers for not having parked properly is not the solution. We should have proper facilities in place and create awareness among vehicle or building owners as well,” he said.
RSTA director, Tashi Norbu, said that roads are being broadened for safety reasons, but vehicles are parked everywhere on the roads. “For now, we’ve allowed vehicles to park only on one side of the road unlike before. Vehicle owners will be taxed for the space they have occupied to park their vehicles on a monthly or annual basis,” he said.
TCC officials, however, said that vacant government plots are being identified that can be converted into parking areas.
Source: Kuenselonline
