Crammed parking spaces in Islamabad need the attention of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), as lack of parking spaces is adversely affecting commercial activity in the city.
The lack of parking lots, which also hinders traffic flow, causes traffic accidents and traffic jams on city roads, and has forced people to park their vehicles on the greenbelt.
In the Blue Area, Karachi Company, Super Market, Aabpara and other big markets, drivers are seen frantically searching for a parking space all day. Most of them park their vehicles on the roadside, which often leads to traffic jams.
CDA has so far failed to solve the parking problem in the federal capital. It has delayed its plan to construct parking plazas in various parts of the city for fours year. It has also not been able to properly implement its building by-laws under which a building owner is bound to make adequate parking arrangements.
According to the by-laws, CDA is bound to take action against those who do not provide adequate parking for vehicles. According to a survey, the majority of buildings located in various parts of the city have no parking facilities because of which people working there park their vehicles on the roadside or greenbelt.
CDA Planning Wing Official, while talking to APP, said that the authority had finalized the plan and would soon start constructing parking plazas on selected sites. “The authority is working on a plan to identify sites for parking in the other markets of the city,” the official said.
Malik Faisal, an employee at National Saving Bank Melody, said that the civic body needed to make proper parking arrangements in the city. “The lack of car parking wastes our precious time as most of my colleagues are forced to park their cars far away from the office,” he said.
Ahmad Ali a shopkeeper in Blue Area said that the lack of car parking had become a source of mental torture not only for motorists but also for the shopkeepers in main markets in the city.
