Team-BHP - BMC notice for parking my car on a public road

The notice must be referring to sections 313(1)(a) and 314(b) of the MMC Act :

Quote:

Prohibition of deposit, etc., of things in streets.
313. (1) No person shall, except with the written permission of the Commissioner

(a) place or deposit upon any street or upon any open channel, drain or well in any street [or in any public place] any stall, chair, bench, box, ladder, bale or other thing so as to form an obstruction thereto or encroachment thereon;

Quote:

314. The Commissioner may, without notice, cause to be removed

(b) any stall, chair, bench, box, ladder, bale, board or shelf, or any other thing whatever placed, deposited, projected, attached, or suspended in, upon from or to any place in contravention of sub-section (1) of section 313;

http://vakindia.org/pdf/BMC-Act-1888.pdf

I would say keep your car in another lane for a few days and then bring it back . :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by navin (Post 4265871)

Guys I need some advice.

We have a Honda City which we park regularly in a dead end lane (public road)....

There was a recent article in Mumbai mirror reporting an initiative on removing abandoned vehicles from the streets. It just might be possible that the notice on your vehicle is a result of that initiative.

Most likely a contractor looking to make a quick return on the contract or an overzealous official stuck the notice at random on a few cars in your street, given that is where you live you can't remove the car and if they tow the recovery fee is 10,500 INR per the article.

Would suggest submitting an affidavit in BMC that the car is in fact used regularly. Evidence, a photo on Marine drive or a note from traffic police? Or just run a red light and submit a traffic challan photo. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Brutailer (Post 4266153)

We shouldn't advise bribing on Team-BHP for god's sake.

Not being rude but please get your own private parking or sell the car. One shouldn't buy multiple cars when there's capacity to accommodate just one.

Quote:

Originally Posted by airbus (Post 4266281)

I agree, we must not claim public spaces for private use. With increasing purchase power more and more people will be able to afford cars and if many more start parking on public roads, may result in little road left for it's original purpose. I actually want a law that allow registration of vehicle only if owner has a private parking space.

Firstly I 100% agree bribing should not be advocated or advised - its only a short cut and not a solution.

But, I disagree with the concept of not owning multiple cars, just because the system is flawed. The world over, people buy cars and park on the street - only because of Residents Parking Permits.

And this is exactly what Bombay needs. Maybe (like someone earlier suggested), contact your local MLA and get him to push a Residents Parking Permit Scheme. The BMC, gets its share of funds from the yearly fee, the MLA gets recognition for a great scheme and you get parking!

Probably sounds easier, than it is to implement! :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by earthian (Post 4266145)

Normally BMC would not invite the ire of many residents who have been parking their cars there for ages and which had (apparently) not troubled anyone or proved a hinderance to traffic etc.

earthian, your guess was pretty close. I sent an associate to the BMC office and we found out that only 4 cars were issued these notices.

It seems that some local resident frustrated with not finding parking for their car complained that some cars always find parking because the arrive early. Since this particular car of ours is used only between 10 and 5pm it usually gets parking (not always in the same spot).

The BMC official also told my associate that this car is one of the older models (2009) and hence was singled out along with 3 others. They did not serve notices to new cars especially any luxury cars.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yusha (Post 4266002)

To put it very crudely, ask the Engineer who issued the notice, how much money does he want?

Ha ha ha I am a TBHP Mod. I cannot sully the name of the forum. Besides I wont know how to bribe, never really done it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdp1975 (Post 4266174)

I would say keep your car in another lane for a few days and then bring it back . :D

This is what the BMC official advised. So my cousin and I switched cars for 2 weeks. :thumbs up

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer (Post 4266367)

But, I disagree with the concept of not owning multiple cars, just because the system is flawed. The world over, people buy cars and park on the street - only because of Residents Parking Permits.

And this is exactly what Bombay needs. Maybe (like someone earlier suggested), contact your local MLA and get him to push a Residents Parking Permit Scheme. The BMC, gets its share of funds from the yearly fee, the MLA gets recognition for a great scheme and you get parking!

Probably sounds easier, than it is to implement! :D

Yes Mumbai has too many private cars. If we had a public transport system as we have in NYC, London, Singapore, etc. it would be feasible to manage with fewer cars.

As a holistic (and utopian) system, we should levy a congestion tax for cars, build a better public transport system and collect additional taxes via "Parking Permits". However with a system as porous as ours this is bound to fail. For example: about 3-4 years ago the BMC envisioned building a multi floor parking lot on my street. It was supposed to de-congest the road.

Somehow the company that built that parking lot got permissions to convert the ground floor to a commercial store. Then they got permission to convert the first floor into a restaurant. Then they added a bar. And now there is barely any parking in this "multi floor parking lot". It exists as such only on paper. That is Mumbai/India.

Three choices:

Ignore it.

Or

Reply back to them saying that you are perfectly within your rights to park the car on a public road which DOES NOT have a no parking rule and the car is being used daily except for weekends and issuing such a notice tantamounts to mental harassment of senior citizens who are using the vehicle.

Or

File an RTI asking about the process of how notices are issued at random. RTI threat usually is enough to keep them at bay.

EDIT:

Start documenting cars parked in your lane as well as your lane for a few days by clicking pics. Show them how your car is moved everyday and some that aren't and why they haven't got the notice.

Quote:

Originally Posted by suhaas307 (Post 4266819)

Also, please write a letter to the Engineer (the signatory to the notice) requesting for the same information sought in your RTI application..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tejas@perioimpl (Post 4266483)

Start documenting cars parked in your lane as well as your lane for a few days by clicking pics. Show them how your car is moved everyday and some that aren't and why they haven't got the notice.

Tejas, you know the lane.

A twist in the tale. Today (Sunday) I got a call from a neighbor. The neighbor does not live in my building but his company owns a flat. He heard about this issue from the building manager. He offered to let me use his stilt garage for 2 weeks as his company will not be using their stilt garage till this thing blows over. So come Monday I will ask my driver to move the car to the stilt garage.

The name of the company? Reliance Industries Pvt. Ltd. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Brutailer (Post 4266153)

We shouldn't advise bribing on Team-BHP for god's sake.

Let's be clear. It's wrong to park your car on a public road (irrespective of whether it's a bylane or main road).

Not being rude but please get your own private parking or sell the car. One shouldn't buy multiple cars when there's capacity to accommodate just one.

Glad to hear one sane voice amongst all these allegations of the officials being corrupt.

Navin - I suggest you first meet with the D ward officer and explain your stand. Also understand their viewpoint. I'm sure some clarity will emerge from the meeting when they realize that you are a resident of the area and there is a paucity of parking. Please do not try to bribe them. We all need to follow the law in letter and spirit.

Hope your problem is resolved soon.

Glad you have a solution to your problem, albeit temporarily, Navin.

The sad truth is too much valuable real estate is being wasted in South Bombay because the authorities have no control over public spaces. I actually support the notion that everybody who buys a car should have a dedicated (paid) spot to park it, day and night. That is the only sensible way to deal with the problem.

Driving to South Bombay as a visitor is maddening. The few parking lots available get filled up by mid-morning. One time I think I was meeting Rudra for lunch and had to actually change the venue of our meet since the only place I could find to park my car was valet parking at some Kala Ghoda restaurant :D

Same story when I have to visit relatives in South Bombay- either ask them pointedly if I can park in their dedicated parking or take an Uber. It's too much headache otherwise!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lalvaz (Post 4267415)

Navin - I suggest you first meet with the D ward officer and explain your stand. Also understand their viewpoint..

Yes the D ward officer was actually quite nice about it. He said (and I paraphrase from hindi) "just move your car for 2 weeks then you can go back to normal".

Quote:

Originally Posted by noopster (Post 4267462)

I agree 100% Noopster. Thing is much of South Mumbai (Colaba, Oval, Marine Drive, Girgaum, etc.) was built when few people had few cars (1940s and 1950s). There are many old buildings that don't have any parking whatsoever. The builders of newer constructions (after 2005 or so) have provided for more parking (as many as 3 per apartment) for both residents and guests.

Yes if one looks at it objectively one could say that the 60-70 year old buildings need to be eventually torn down and rebuilt with 'modern' amenities like parking but given the builder-politician-goonda nexus (and the unreal cost of real estate here) I think the result would be that most of the original residents will be muscled out of their homes. I know one Parsi family that was literally bullied out of their home by a greedy builder-goonda (backed by the local MLA).

There have been attempts at creating public parking (Nariman Point being the most notable) but these have failed precisely because of this builder-goonda-politician nexus. Like I said in an earlier post (#22) above there was an attempt at making a multi-level public parking spot where I live too but today much of what should have been used for "parking" is occupied by a high-end watch store, a bar, a restaurant etc.

The unreal cost of real estate does not help. In my building alone there are several families that are living with 3 (and even 4) generations under one roof. This means that there are often 6 adults plus children (read as 5-6 cars) in one apartment. Most (if not all) of these would have spread out over 2-3 apartments if prices were affordable.

Mumbai (especially) South Mumbai that has priced itself to become unviable and will eventually die a natural death. Right now it is already "geriatric". I do not intend to retire here: Malta, Santorini (Greece), Costa del Sol (Spain), Gibraltar, Porto (Portugal), etc. would be where I would head. :D

Quote:

Originally Posted by navin (Post 4267768)

There are many old buildings that don't have any parking whatsoever. The builders of newer constructions (after 2005 or so) have provided for more parking (as many as 3 per apartment) for both residents and guests.

navin, I don't know how much space you have in your building and having lived on 'D' Road for a number of years, I am well aware of how sad the parking situation is in South Bombay.

A friend of mine, resident in a building on Marine Drive said they had the same parking issues, so the society got together and installed a two-level lift parking system within their building compound.
The residents operate the lift themselves and has helped families that have at-least two cars.