Thimphu to have multi-storey car parking buildings

Finding a parking space for your car in Thimphu is not easy, especially in the core town areas. It is stressful to have to drive round and round until you can finally squeeze into a designated parking space, and by the time, you are sapped out of your energy to do anything else in town.

This is where the multi-storey parking will come to the rescue of those who have no luck of finding a parking space in town. The Thimphu District Municipality (TDM) has plans to construct two multi-storey car parking buildings, one near the Zangthoperli shopping complex and the other is to be built near the TDM office.

The Project Manager, Development Control Division (DCD), TDM, Govinda said the construction of the multi-storey car parking buildings will begin from September 1, 2014. It is a public private partnership (PPP) business venture, where the private partners will construct the multi-storey buildings and operate the parking business for 20 years. A certain amount of rent will be paid to the government and after 20 years, the buildings and the business will be handed over to the government.

There are plans to remove the parking space along the Norzin Lam once the multi-storey car parking buildings are complete.

Govinda said the multi-storey car parking buildings will help ease the parking space congestion in the capital city now and in future when the number of vehicles is likely to increase in the capital city.

The multi-storey car parking building will have two basements and four-storey and 20% of the total building will be used as commercial space. The cost of building the two multi-storey parking buildings is estimated at Nu 26 mn.

The multi-storey car park near Zangthoperli shopping complex will accommodate about 350 vehicles with a provision for electric vehicle parking. The multi-storey car park near TDM office it will accommodate about 200 vehicles. The project is expected to be complete within two years from the date of commencement.

According to the recent Annual Progress Report, 2014 of Ministry of Information and Communications, Thimphu region consisting of the surrounding Dzongkhags has 68,129 vehicles.