In a major bid to tackle rampant roadside encroachment, curb haphazard vehicular parking, and ease vehicular movement along congested urban corridors, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is formulating an all-encompassing ‘Pay and Park’ policy. Crucially, rather than relying solely on conventional roadside curbs, the civic administration is actively exploring plans to incorporate municipal properties including vacant civic lands, school playgrounds during non-school hours, open grounds, and spaces beneath or around flyovers into structured parking facilities. The move follows a joint preliminary survey carried out in co-ordination with the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) to map chronic bottlenecks across city.

 

The assessment identified major arterial stretches choked by undisciplined parking while simultaneously pinpointing nearby Government and municipal spaces that could double as regulated parking hubs to absorb the vehicular spillover. While speaking with ‘The Hitavada’, Additional Municipal Commissioner (AMC) Ankit, confirmed the strategic framework. “We are developing an all-encompassing parking policy to streamline vehicular flow and bring an end to haphazard parking that currently deprives the civic body of vital legitimate revenue. The primary focus is to utilise land where available such as barricading municipal school grounds after hours when schools are closed, utilising open civic grounds, or taking up spaces near flyovers and one-sided bays on wide streets,” said AMC Ankit. “We are studying demand, vehicular intake, and fee models from other major cities before floating the policy for stakeholder consultation.

 

Our target is to finalise and roll out implementation before the winter assembly session,” AMC Ankit added. Further he said that the civic body would discuss the pay and park policy in the upcoming General Body Meeting (GBM) and accordingly implement the policy. To ensure transparency and convenience, the civic body plans to digitise the entire ecosystem, allowing motorists to check live vacancy data on mobile dashboards before planning trips. Officials clarified that existing private parking operators will not be banned, provided they operate under municipal regulations to keep vehicular flow unhindered. With final drafts underway, the NMC aims to launch the policy by the end of this year.