To tackle traffic congestion across Mumbai and its suburbs, the Urban Development Department must introduce parking-specific amendments to urban policies within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) jurisdiction, Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik said. He was speaking during a meeting with municipal commissioners from the MMRDA region at Mantralaya.

Present at the meeting were Additional Transport Secretary Sanjay Sethi, Additional Urban Development Secretary Asim Gupta, Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar, and the commissioners of Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Panvel, Mira-Bhayandar, and Vasai-Virar municipal corporations.

Sarnaik said that moving forward, all municipal corporations will need to earmark dedicated parking spaces in their development plans. Accordingly, the Urban Development Department should update its rules and issue a revised framework of 14 recommendations to all civic bodies within the MMRDA limits.