MoD gives green signal for multi-level parking in 62 cantonments

Hyderabad: The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has given a green signal for multi-level parking construction across 62 cantonments, and the ministry wrote to their respective boards to hunt for a suitable site. The expert committee on the working of the Cantonment Board met on November 7. Among several proposal approvals, the committee gave its nod for the construction of multi-level parking sites.

The order stated, “Government instructed that all cantonments boards shall expore land and other requirements of multi-level car parking in their area. After which they should place the proposal before the cantonment board in a time-bound manner. Parameters like land availability, location of the cantonment, population to be catered are to be taken into consideration.”

Besides this, MoD has asked the office of the defence estate to keep in mind the financial position of the board, suitability or requirements before going about with the multi-level car-parking project.

The boards have been advised to observe the parking at the Pune cantonment and treat it as a model. “The boards may also consider a non-mechanised ramp-based model for the scheme. Accordingly, all cantonment may frame multi-level parking after examining the necessity and identifying the model as suitable to the location to come up with a comprehensive plan,” said MoD authorities.

The proposed multi-level parking in Pune’s Lloyd Street is designed with state-of-the-art robotic parking system for urban areas where there is an acute shortage of parking.

Independent study found that, on average, one car requires a parking space of about 350 square feet in a conventional system. However, using smart patented Silomat parking system, this space requirement can be reduced to as low as 180 sq ft per car. The proposed car parking system in Pune can accommodate 184 cars in around 38,000-sqft area.

“This is a one-of-a-kind project in India where a parking system is vertically built on an operational road. When completed, it will be functional without any hindrance to vehicular traffic flowing,” said Pune’s cantonment board in its detailed project report.

In the patented dolly automatic car parking system, which Pune cantonment adapted, the driver has to do little to get the car parked. The driver needs to drive into a designated dolly area. Afterwards, the dolly will take over the car and transport it to an empty parking space in the lot, which will be done under complete CCTV monitoring. For the retrieval, the system will bring back the requested vehicle after being notified.