Soon, you can avail valet services at 22 points around Mumbai’s Dadar

Moving around the city may soon become easier for vehicle owners, as the civic body will introduce a valet service to encourage use of public parking lots (PPLs) around Dadar. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) G North ward, which includes Dadar, has decided to introduce the service within 500 metres of PPLs and at 22 high-traffic points, including Ravindra Natya Mandir, Sena Bhavan and Yashwant Natya Mandir.

Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of the ward, said, “At places frequented by citizens, such as shopping malls or auditoriums, we will provide valet services to take visitors’ cars to the nearest BMC-owned public parking lot. Valets will also be available within a 500-metre radius of a PPL, so vehicle owners do not park on the street.”

“BMC plans to identify premium areas in the city where vehicle owners will be willing to pay for valet services. If owners park their cars on their own in the PPLs, they will pay less,” said municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi.

On July 8, BMC started imposing heavy fines, up to ₹15,000, for illegal parking within 500 metres of PPLs to discourage unauthorised on-street parking and decongest roads. While illegal on-street parking within the 500-metre radius decreased considerably after fine revision, the civic body found that several commuters continued to park their vehicles on the street outside the radius.

A senior civic officer, working on BMC’s parking issue, said, “Mostly, people do not want to take the effort to park at a PPL and then walk another 100 or 200 metres to their destination. Instead, they prefer parking illegally right outside their destination on the street.” “Valets services will make it easier for vehicle owners who are in a hurry or don’t want to walk the distance between a PPL and their destination,” said Dighavkar.

Currently, there are 26 BMC-owned PPLs in the city and more are expected to be ready soon. The G North ward will soon get a PPL with a capacity to park 1,004 vehicles at the Kohinoor building opposite Shiv Sena Bhavan.