KMC has planned to build a seven-storey parking building at Dhramapath

Kathmandu, June 3

Kathmandu Metropolitan City has introduced smart parking system in the core business areas of the capital.

However, it seems that this move alone will not help people get rid of parking woes as the metropolis is converting the existing parking lots into smart parking areas without building new parking lots.

Kathmandu Metropolitan City has signed a contract with a private company — Wheels Truly Yours Pvt Ltd — to operate the country’s first smart parking system in five different locations of Kathmandu.

The company has claimed that they will allow motorists to park their vehicles if they book the parking area 15 minutes before reaching the destination.

Motorists can book the parking lot through mobile application called ‘Park Ktm’. The booked parking lot, however, would be transferred to another person if it failed to reach the place within the stipulated time.

The company also claimed that they have set up digital boards and installed around 50 CCTV cameras and digital billing system at Durbar Marg, Pyukha, Khichapokhari, Pako and Dharma Path to operate smart parking system.

“ The system is still in the testing phase. We will soon bring the system into operation with full capacity,” said company Director Sailesh Kunwar .

For smart parking, lot people will have to pay at least Rs 25 for two-wheelers and at least Rs 80 for four-wheelers. Parking in the designated spaces inside KMC has been free of cost until now. KMC has allocated a total of 76 public places for parking lots and Lalitpur Metropolitan City has allocated 28 such parking lots. Majority of parking spaces are road sides.

KMC has tried to make the parking systematic by introducing smart parking system, but it has failed to build more parking lots as promised by Mayor of KMC Bidhya Sundar Shakya after being elected.

KMC has proposed to build at least six large parking lots in the metropolis.

It had proposed to build parking lots at Dharahara and Bagh Durbar.

Similarly, KMC has also planned to build a seven-story parking building at Dharmapath and a couple of auto lift technology at various places.

Spokesperson for KMC Ishwor Man Dangol said, “We are hopeful that after introducing new system, shop owners and house owners in the busy market places will opt to use their private space to park their vehicles. If this happens, visitors will get more space to park their vehicles.”

Dangol also said that with the new parking system, parking lots at shopping malls and other buildings will be utilised properly.

“At present, only 60 per cent of such spaces are used for parking,” he added.

It is estimated that around 200,000 four-wheelers and around 800,000 two-wheelers ply the valley’s roads on a daily basis. The total length of the road in Kathmandu valley is around 1,594.67 km, according to Department of Roads.