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By:

Bhalchandra Chorghade

11 August 2025 at 1:54:18 pm

BMC plans parking curbs in narrow lanes

Mumbai: Amid mounting concerns over delayed emergency response in congested neighbourhoods, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is preparing to enforce parking restrictions in several narrow lanes across the city, where indiscriminate on-street parking has increasingly emerged as a critical civic hazard. The move, expected to be implemented soon, is aimed at ensuring unobstructed access for fire engines and ambulances in densely populated pockets where even minor delays can have...

BMC plans parking curbs in narrow lanes

Mumbai: Amid mounting concerns over delayed emergency response in congested neighbourhoods, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is preparing to enforce parking restrictions in several narrow lanes across the city, where indiscriminate on-street parking has increasingly emerged as a critical civic hazard. The move, expected to be implemented soon, is aimed at ensuring unobstructed access for fire engines and ambulances in densely populated pockets where even minor delays can have life-threatening consequences. “Illegal parking is not merely a compliance issue; it reflects the structural gap between the rapid growth in vehicle ownership and the limited parking infrastructure available in our cities,” said Prashant Sharma, President of NAREDCO Maharashtra. “As urban centres continue to densify, there is a pressing need to integrate well-planned and technologically enabled parking solutions within city planning as well as new real estate developments. Adequate parking infrastructure will play a crucial role in ensuring smoother traffic flow and improving overall urban mobility,” he added. Highlighting the urgency for scalable interventions, Ashish Majithia, Founder and CEO of Nextkraft Parking Technologies, said, “Mumbai’s parking crisis, especially in older and congested localities, underscores the need for innovative approaches such as automated and multi-level parking systems. Automated or mechanised parking should be installed at every public parking spot, which can significantly increase capacity, reduce dependence on on-street parking and ensure that critical access routes remain unobstructed. Alongside regulatory measures, adopting vertical parking infrastructure will be the key to building safer and more efficient cities.” The civic concern is particularly acute in older parts of South and Central Mumbai, including Chandanwadi, Girgaon, Kalbadevi, Gaondevi, Tardeo, Mumbai Central, Nagpada, Agripada and Byculla, where over 240 narrow lanes have been identified. Civic assessments indicate that nearly 35 to 40 of these are so constricted that only a single vehicle can pass at a time, making them highly vulnerable during emergencies when every second is critical. Commercial Zones The situation is further exacerbated in high-density commercial zones such as Zaveri Bazaar and Kalbadevi, where wholesale trade activity leads to persistent vehicular congestion. Authorities warn that in the event of fires or medical emergencies, blocked access routes could result in severe loss of life and property, underlining the gravity of the issue as more than just a traffic inconvenience. According to civic officials, proposed measures include introducing odd-even parking systems in select lanes and declaring complete no-parking zones in others, coupled with stricter enforcement against violators. However, residents and business owners have raised concerns over the absence of adequate alternative parking infrastructure, arguing that enforcement without viable substitutes could shift the burden rather than resolve the problem. As Mumbai continues to grapple with rising vehicle ownership and shrinking urban space, the proposed restrictions bring into sharp focus a deeper civic challenge, balancing immediate regulatory action with long-term infrastructure planning. Experts maintain that unless supported by systematic investments in organised, high-capacity parking solutions, the city’s emergency access bottlenecks may persist despite stricter rules.

Karuna Sharma – doomsayer for Munde

Updated: Mar 6, 2025

Munde

Mumbai: Ruling ally Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)’s Dhananjay Munde’s estranged wife Karuna Sharma proved to be the proverbial doomsayer who first predicted that he would quit as a Minister, as the pacy developments unveiled on Tuesday.


Over the weekend, she had claimed that Munde had already submitted his resignation letter to NCP President and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, but few took her seriously.


In a social media post, she said that Ajit Pawar had secured Munde’s papers at least two days ago and it would be announced on Monday, though NCP leaders denied the claims.


Sharma persisted with her contentions before the media that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had purportedly directed Munde to submit his resignation, though nothing moved even on Monday.


Though Fadnavis dropped broad hints during a public speech that if required he would take Munde’s resignation, it actually materialized this morning, as the Opposition Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi parties roared their approval.


Going further, Sharma today demanded that all those responsible for the murder of Massajog village (Beed) Sarpanch Santosh Pandit Deshmukh should be hanged, even as the besieged Munde insisted that he quit on ‘health grounds’.


The chorus for Munde’s scalp gained speed after certain disturbing photos of the tortures meted out to Deshmukh before his death (on Dec. 9, 2024), which surfaced last night, went viral and triggered a huge political uproar, sealing the Minister’s fate.


The political reactions and its potential fallout for the Mahayuti government left Munde with no options but to quit on March 4, in a face-saver for the NCP.

The next step of activists like Anjali Damania and other politicians is to tighten the screws on the NCP to take Munde’s resignation as an MLA from Parli assembly constituency in Beed.

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