Hyderabad Metro Parking Fee Sparks Protests

 Hyderabad: After the Nagole Metro Rail station, commuters protest at the Miyapur station as the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL) are all set to collect parking fees from September 1. On Saturday, the commuters backed by a few Left organisations staged a protest and demanded the Metro Rail authorities take back the decision of paid parking.

The protestors explained that the authorities were planning to collect a Rs 40 parking fee for a two-wheeler and collected the signatures from passengers at the Miyapur station.

Neerlakanti Srikanth, one of the protestors, explained, “There are no proper amenities provided by the authorities. The parking lot doesn’t even have a shelter. There are several complaints that helmets are being stolen when the bikes are parked here.”

Condemn the decision to levy a parking fee, Srikanth said the authorities had failed to provide basic amenities. “People opt for the Metro to avoid the heavy traffic. The metro authorities have not charged for parking for the past 10 years and now suddenly they are asking us to pay, this is shocking to us. The Metro Rail services in other cities are pocket-friendly for commuters.”

When contacted, the L&T Metro officials denied the charge and said they did not have any plan to charge for parking for now and would communicate through their social media handle if it would be implemented in the future.

However, according to the billboard on August 14 at the Nagole station, the parking fee for two-wheelers is Rs 40 and Rs 120 for cars up to 12 hours. As commuters protested this decision, the Metro Rail uthorities posted on their social media handle that they were postponing the paid parking proposal.