KARACHI, Dec 7: What would possess the owner of a brand new car to hand over his/her keys to a man working out of the hollowed out carcass of an under construction building? The answer: the strict enforcement of a no-parking policy on main I.I. Chundrigar Road by the traffic police, and a lack of alternative arrangements by the City District Government Karachi. Enforced in April this year, the ban on parking on Karachi’s main business artery has had significant fallout for both employees and customers on I.I. Chundrigar Road. Vehicles left on the main road are now being towed, usually within 10-15 minutes of being left there by drivers.

The sudden increase in the ‘inconvenience’ of finding a parking spot, however, has been a boon for some: parking businesses (referred to by the police as “rackets”, and by the CDGK as “mafias”) have sprung up all over the area, with attendants ready to park, and even wash, your car for you. A typical business will charge between Rs500 and Rs1,000 (depending on your location) per month.

Customers typically drop off their keys with the attendants in the morning, and then pick the car up in the evening on their way out of work, much like a valet service. Daily charges vary between Rs20-30.

At any given time there are between 10 and 15 parking businesses active on the main stretch of I.I. Chundrigar Road. Each employs 6-10 people, working at various levels as drivers, supervisors or washers. Drivers tend to get paid about Rs2,000 per month, while those nearer the top of the unorganised parking pyramid make more than twice that amount.

These parking businesses exist from near the Saima Trade Centre, Mohammad bin Qasim Road and the PTCL Consumer Centre right down to the Cotton Exchange and Uni Plaza. Most parkers will take cars to side streets, such as Hasrat Mohani Rd, Altaf Hussain Rd and Talpur Rd, while others will park as far away as the S.M. Law College and the old passport office.

“This is a service which should be provided, or at least sanctioned, by the government,” says Javed Hali, an employee on I.I. Chundrigar Rd and a regular customer at one of the parking businesses. Hali’s views are not atypical.

Filling a need

With the ban on parking in place, and no alternatives provided by the CDGK, these private parking business owners, and their customers, see themselves as merely filling a need.

Inspector Nasir Bokhari, of the Karachi traffic police (Zone I) agrees that there is a need for these “racketeers”, but says the businesses need to be regulated. “We have arrested parking racketeers for parking cars two, sometimes three, abreast,” says Inspector Bokhari.

On Nov 18, two parking businesses were shut down by the police under Section 341 (Obstructing traffic, FIR no 422/08). Fifteen others were also shut, under Police Order 139.

But while police officials insist that there are now no parking businesses operating on (or off) I.I. Chundrigar Rd, this is not the case.

“The police used to bother us, but they haven’t done so for months,” says Habib, a parking business owner.

Rabaat, one of his employees, adds that payments to constables help to ensure that the police continue to ignore them.

No adequate parking

So where does the long-term solution to the problem lie? Inspector Bokhari blames the Karachi Building Control Authority for not ensuring that office buildings are built with adequate parking provided on site. He also feels the Pakistan Railways’ ground, adjacent to the road, should be used for parking.

Qazi Abul Qadir, District Officer (Parking and Terminal Management) CDGK, agrees. “The Pakistan Railways were given that land for a stadium, and instead are using it for commercial purposes,” he says. “The provincial government should take it back from the Railways and designate it as parking space. We [the CDGK] have approached the Railways several times to launch a joint venture, but they just don’t want to talk to us.”

The CDGK approached Pakistan Railways with a proposal to build a two-level underground parking structure with a capacity of 600 cars on the land some months ago. Having been spurned, that project has now been undertaken in conjunction with Mustafa International Pvt Ltd at Bara Dari, adjacent to a five-star hotel. Qadir says work has already begun, and the lot should be ready by late 2009.

“We will have a fleet of three shuttles transporting people between the parking lot and I.I. Chundrigar Rd and its adjoining areas,” he said. The CDGK plans to charge about Rs25 per day for the service.At the moment, though, customers remain reliant on parking businesses. But despite their presence, Inspector Bokhari’s Aarambagh section is still towing between 15 and 17 cars a day, and 50-60 motorcycles.

With several banks now demanding that the side lanes outside their buildings also be kept clear of cars, the dearth of parking spaces only looks to be getting worse.

While citizens wait for the CDGK parking plaza, ‘racketeers’ look set to continue to make a killing, some earning as much as Rs90,000 a month.