Thiruvananthapuram: Complaints galore at railway parking area
The receipt issued to vehicle owners says that the owner will be responsible for the vehicle.
Thiruvananthapuram: There is growing resentment among the public with the parking facility provided on the premises of Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station. The space does not offer a roof and gets waterlogged when it rains.
People say that the space offers little security. One resident found a dent on his two-wheeler when he returned to pick it from the space. The receipt issued to vehicle owners says that the owner will be responsible for the vehicle.
Moreover, there are complaints about the parking personnel managing the space haphazardly. One of them, Vijay R. shares an anecdote, which happened this month. “The parking staff directed me to go right inside. Only after reaching the end of the line, I realised there were no vacant spots. On my way back, I saw the way blocked by two vehicles. My two-wheeler is comparatively large, and I was struggling to find my way out of the maze. There was no one to support. After all this, I missed my train. Clearly, there is no coordination between the staff,” he says.
Railway is planning to improve the infrastructure here, according to Thiruvananthapuram Central Railway Station director Rajesh Chand-ran. “A proposal to tar the parking area for Rs 1.2 crores has gone for approval. This will addr-ess the waterlogging issue. Moreover, some more area will be made available for parking.
A building in front of the first platform is being demolished. This will offer space to park 40 or 50 cars, within three or four months. There are areas where vehicles cannot be parked as construction waste is dum-ped, or the ground is un-even. This will be converted to proper parking space, as part of another project,” he said.
Regarding seemingly inexperienced staff, officials say that the Kudumbashree agency in charge of the parking space were trained, but they have a frequent change of staff. “We have to coordinate with Kudumbashree to ensure that new staff, whenever they join, gets trai-ned,” says Rajesh Chandran. There will be dem-arcation of vehicle spa-ce, so that the personnel will be aware of the amount of parking space available. The area is always under CCTV surveillance, but this cover will be strengthened in the future, he says.
Railway station officials have approached Suresh Gopi MP, to contribute Rs 40-Rs 55 lakh from MPLAD for a multilevel two-wheeler parking facility. If the three-level facility materialises, it will offer space for 750 vehicles (250 two-wheelers in each level).