KMC and police hold meet to streamline 'Bondhu' app for hassle-free car parking ahead of Durga Puja

Kolkata: The Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) and Kolkata Police held a meeting on Monday to streamline the operation of 'Bondhu' app for a hassle-free car parking experience of car owners ahead of the Durga Puja this year.

The app was launched in the year 2018 with the aim to give some relief to the car owners from undergoing the ordeal of tedious parking experiences in the city.

"We are going to make this app more systematic ahead of the Durga Puja. The android phones of a number of persons manning the car parking lots have gone defunct and it needs to be replaced for streamlining car parking. The matter was discussed and necessary steps will be taken in this regard," said Debasish Kumar, Member of Board of Administrators, KMC who is in charge of Parking wing.

Before the lockdown period the app was used effectively for car parking at places like Park Street, Camac Street, Russell Street, Brabourne Road, Sambhunath Pandit Street etc. A person handling the app can know in advance from a distance of 1 km whether parking is available at a place where he/ she wants to park the vehicle. The man responsible for manning the specific parking lot is also communicated about the booking of the space.

"There were much less cars on the road during the lockdown period. The volume has gradually increased since July when the unlock started. From September onwards more relaxations have been allowed and now with the Pujas round the corner the time is ripe so that the car owners can reap benefits of the app," said a senior KMC official.