Parking, a challenge at multiplexes

“But, surely, not many can travel all the way for the sake of a movie. While booking a ticket is a task in itself, more cumbersome is the drive through stifling stretches of traffic en route to the multiplexes and then finding a parking place for the car,” laments, Megha Patnayak, an IT employee.

“Factors like traffic jams, time, pollution and then this parking problem will make people think twice before planning for a movie,” said Rajnikanth, marketing executive, Hindustan Unilever. Amit Garg, Additonal Commissioner of Police, Traffic, finds this problem common in the city, especially with the multiplexes. “These malls allow establishments to park the car. There are people who come for shopping and they stay back for lunch and then a movie.

These people are responsible for others not being able to park their car. They should increase the rate on parking on an hourly basis. The GHMC is passing sanctions for commercial establishments without giving the infrastructure a second look. We cannot allow parking on streets unless it’s a medical emergency. There is a demand- supply problem and multiplexes must make arrangements for their viewers.”

“One of the malls houses a five-screen cinema theatre. Yet no space has been provided for the multiplex. They have no separate parking,” says Gagan kumar and Saju, who missed the movie too.

“From the demand side, the consumers/shoppers may value the shopping experience in these malls and therefore may be willing to pay a hefty parking charge. The mall operators ride on this demand and charge more for parking. Given the large volume of shoppers, they view it as a revenue stream with considerable commercial potential. In fact, many mall operators outsource this to another service vendor, with a contract aimed at maximising their returns. This parking operator would naturally be left with no option but to increase the parking fees and maximise his revenues,” says Manidhar, President of Citizens Charter for Better Living.