Civil society in Kalimpong wants parking plaza to come up away from the city centre

Courtesy & source of figure/ photograph: *Addressal to the Rising Problem of Traffic Congestion in Kalimpong, West Bengal: Causes and Preventive Measures by R. Subba

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, JUNE 9, 2022: The Kalimpong Municipality plans to build a car park at the motor stand of the town to tackle the problem of improper parking. Soil testing has started as per the plan. But many have objected to the idea of their car being parked at the motor stand. 

Though it is necessary to build a car park in Kalimpong to solve the traffic problem, many people have the opinion that the car park should be built away from the city crowd and not at the existing motor stand. Speaking on behalf of the Kalimpong Citizens' Forum, advocate Prabhakar Dewan said on Tuesday: "Parking is necessary in Kalimpong. The Gandhi Gate at the current motor stand is a huge monument of Kalimpong. I don't think it's appropriate to have a multi-storey car park in the same place. It would be better to have such a car park outside the city.' 

The Gorkha Nationalist Group has also protested against the construction of multi-storey car parking at the motor stand. The head of the Group, Michael Kalikote said that it was inappropriate to build a car park at the current motor stand due to the growing crowd in the market. 

He said, It would be better to build the parking plaza away from the city centre. The municipality could acquire government land anywhere in consultation with government and build a car park there.

"We urge the municipality to reconsider its position on parking. The municipality should have made public its draft development plan or annual action plan. We also want the Kalimpong municipality to hold a public discussion on this issue."

Gorkha Janamukti Morcha Kalimpong Town Committee Chairperson Sonam Yakha has also objected to the issue of car parking at the motor stand. He said that if carparking plaza was made in the middle of the city, the traffic problem would increase. He also said that if a car park was built, it should be built away from the city centre.

[*Ed: Published by Rosemary Subba, Department Of Geography, North Bengal St.Xaviers’ College, Rajganj, Jalpaiguri, West Bengal on 9 July 2020 in the Advanced journal of Social Science (ISSN:2581-3358) ]