Bhopal Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) grand plan to solve the city’s parking woes with multilevel parking structures is falling short of expectations, drawing criticism from residents and traders alike.
Despite significant investments and the use of smart city funds, the plan’s promised solutions are facing multiple roadblocks. In the last eight years, the BMC has invested approximately Rs 150 crore in building multilevel parking facilities across the city. However, the returns on this investment are underwhelming. Reports suggest that the revenue generated from these parking facilities remains significantly low, despite the growing demand for parking in Bhopal’s busy commercial districts. With only Rs 3 crore in annual parking revenue, it could take as long as a decade for the corporation to break even on its investment, a figure that has raised eyebrows among local authorities and experts.
The situation is even more dire considering the continued public dissatisfaction. New Market traders have voiced strong objections to the implementation of the parking strategy, particularly concerning the steep charges imposed for parking in the multilevel structures. The New Market Traders Association has called for a reduction in premium parking rates, which they argue are higher than those at several nearby shopping centres. They have also demanded the reinstatement of street-side two-wheeler parking, which was banned under the new parking rules, citing the loss of accessibility for both businesses and customers.
Sanjay Valecha, vice president of the association, articulated the traders’ frustrations, stressing that the current parking fees were putting a strain on their businesses. “The new charges are higher than those at shopping malls, making it difficult for local businesses to survive,” he said. This pushback could lead to a broader wave of demands from other business districts, such as MP Nagar, for similar concessions. The BMC’s plan, originally conceived to alleviate parking congestion, has instead sparked a debate about its long-term viability. While the multilevel parking structures were meant to provide relief by accommodating more vehicles in limited spaces, their usage rates have been disappointingly low. The commercial spaces incorporated into the designs to recover some of the costs have failed to attract tenants, with only the New Market parking facility showing any significant usage.
A recent report highlights that the BMC saw a 38% decline in parking revenue in the last fiscal year, a significant setback considering the resources committed to the project. Experts point to a combination of factors, including the high parking charges, insufficient awareness, and the lack of a shift in the parking behaviour of Bhopal’s residents, as the primary reasons for the project’s underperformance. This situation raises questions about the feasibility of implementing such projects in mid-sized cities without adequate planning and public engagement. Urban infrastructure projects like these require not only substantial financial investment but also a shift in public mindset. In Bhopal’s case, the infrastructure improvements have failed to encourage people to embrace the new systems, with many still relying on street-side parking.
While the BMC has vowed to address the complaints and ensure better coordination in the future, the lingering doubts about the project’s success remain. Officials have indicated that they will consider the traders’ proposals, but there is little certainty regarding the long-term effectiveness of this strategy in the face of such resistance. The core issue lies in the gap between the city’s growing need for organised parking solutions and the public’s reluctance to adapt to new systems that are perceived as costly and inconvenient. Without significant changes to the pricing model and better incentives for users, it is unlikely that Bhopal’s multilevel parking structures will achieve the level of success initially envisioned.
As the BMC grapples with these challenges, it faces the difficult task of finding a balance between modernising the city’s parking infrastructure and ensuring that the solution works for everyone—from businesses to everyday commuters. The city’s parking problems, it seems, are far from being solved, and the road to recouping the hefty investments appears to be much longer than originally anticipated.
BMC Parking Plan Faces Backlash and Delays in Revenue Recovery
