KARACHI: Emphasis on parking etiquettes with no space available
By Maheen A. Rashdi
KARACHI: “YOU can’t park here, move on, move on…,” shouts the security guard outside a small branch of a multinational bank. While checking all bank customers from parking anywhere in the vicinity, he irks the pompous clients, one of whom just ignores him and parks the car almost on the bank’s doorstep, ignoring the guard’s rebukes. Another car stops close to the entrance and the guard once again starts issuing out commands, but this time the customer is an aggressive individual and he retaliates, “Behave yourself! You don’t know who I am…”. While this exchange is taking place, another driver coolly blocks a neatly parked car on the side by leaving his car in the middle of the road, unconcerned with the civic responsibility of never obstructing a parked car.
Since this is the day of the last Karachi bomb blast, the guard’s over protectiveness is understandable. But the highhanded attitude of citizens, who think nothing of parking rules and regulations and irresponsibly park cars in front of entrances and behind other parked cars is inexcusable. It is a civic crime indulged in by most of the drivers in this country – irrespective of class, gender and age.
There is blatant refusal in accepting mistake, instead, every time the reply is, “What’s the big deal if I blocked your car!” Once a rustic driver actually retaliated by hitting the blocked car, because the owner who was stuck for 20 minutes rather vociferously commented on the driver’s illiterate genesis.
It goes without saying that the collective character of our drivers is ill-bred, to put it nicely. And financial status notwithstanding, a Mercedes owner and a motorbike rider will both stoop to all things low on the roads, whether it is regarding a traffic law, parking rule or any other right of way.
Parking problems are turning into another nightmare for drivers. With households increasing the number of car owners daily and without any proper future plans in place regarding parking lots all over the city, another critical dilemma like the bungling traffic management has developed.
Successive city governments’ short-sightedness (particularly the defunct KMC’s) in dealing with Karachi’s overwhelming rise in population – a result of mass influx of outside communities – has now left the City District Government Karachi with no land of its own to convert into parking areas. In fact, underhand deals with builders had allowed many parking lots to be converted into shopping areas and business concerns. One prime example in one of the most congested business areas is that of Gul Plaza on M.A. Jinnah Road. When it was constructed over a decade ago, ample underground space was allotted for a parking area, but the parking lot was never developed and as clients grew, parking congestions in the area increased. Last year, the builder cut a deal with shop owners and turned the entire lot into a fully air-conditioned shopping area.
Now another ignominy is about to take place. Perhaps in a bid to appease the public regarding parking issues and the absence of parking areas, the city government has now proudly announced that it will be converting the Jehangir Park near Empress Market, Saddar into a multi-story parking plaza. The project is worth millions of rupees and has been proudly undertaken by the city government under the directives of Sindh Governor Ishratul Ibad, in total disregard of the Urban Land Ordinance and citizens’ recreational needs and environmental well-being. This is a typical example of ad hoc, unplanned actions and maladministration which Karachi has been a victim of. Coming up with the brilliant idea of demolishing the lush green landscape is as criminal an activity as was the charged parking racket which thrived in Karachi a few years ago under the aegis of the then city government.
With the maladministration ruling over the city, the onus does not really fall on the erring drivers. After all, where are the required checks? Who is to regulate parking rules when there aren’t any parking areas outlined? There has never been any culture of a parking ticket to deter drivers from abusing road space. No fear of license being revoked either. Unless of course, in certain critical areas where the police have turned parking offences into a lucrative business. These are particular areas where parking to general public is prohibited – the area near PIA booking office is one case in point. Here, fork lifters are always lurking nearby ready to emerge on the policeman’s signal as soon as a harassed driver parks his car at the spot he thinks is safe. The car is promptly ‘lifted off’ and the drill must be followed by the owner to retrieve it which includes dishing out a few hundred rupees. But since nothing goes down in either the driver’s record or the policeman’s credit – all’s well that ends well!
The vicious circle of corruption and misconduct, however, takes the handful of law-abiding drivers also in its grip. It is they who have to deal with the lack of rules and in turn the ignorance of the flashy car-owners as well who are totally ignorant regarding the etiquettes of driving. Will the administrative authorities governing our cities ever streamline the civic structure to legally bind drivers to have some civic responsibility? After all, these very people follow every rule in the book when they live abroad, even refraining from honking which is a severely ostracized act by fellow drivers in the West.
Looking into parking issues is essential and builders must be warned against license cancellation if parking spaces are not allotted in multi-storey commercial complexes. Vandalizing parks to cover up lack of civic planning is not the answer. In fact if Jehangir Park is turned into a parking lot, it would be one of the most brutal cut inflicted on the public in an area where there is no other reprieve from the madding rush of traffic.
