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Ambitious Parking Project in Technopark Hits a Dead End

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The automated multi-level parking facility at Technopark was touted as a solution to the parking woes of thousands of employees when it was launched two years ago. However, the project failed to take off and its prototype is now rusting at the IT hub. The prototype was developed by a father-son duo, Joy Abraham and Aubin Joe, who also owned the patent of the technology. It was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor in March last year. The prototype was designed to accommodate 27 cars at a time. The model was launched as part of the ‘Technopreneur Promotion Programme’ (TePP) under which Technopark promotes individual innovators through a support mechanism. The prototype was designed in such a way that a moving cradle placed a car into an allotted slot and a computer controlled the storage and retrieval. But the project got stalled days after a widely-celebrated inauguration. Image removed. “We had allotted five cents of land on lease for the project but it was not successful after the demo. We have already told the company which set up the facility to dismantle it at the earliest,” K G Girish Babu, CEO of Technopark, told ‘Express’. “As part of promoting innovative technology, we had encouraged this venture, but they couldn’t succeed in getting the cars parked properly in the slots,” said M Vasudeven, Senior Manager, Business Development, Technopark. According to Tharoor, who inaugurated the project, it was launched with the view that such an innovation is needed for a state like Kerala which witnesses a rapid increase in vehicles and decreasing availability of land. “The prototype is not meant for commercial use and the land is given on short-term lease by Technopark authorities,” he said. Joy Abraham, partner of Joy Joe’s Safe Parking Private Limited, said it was unfortunate that his innovation never took off after the demo installation. “Though I got full support from Technopark authorities and the government, there was interference from various quarters to scuttle or get our project shelved. This is disheartening,” he said. “This facility is my dream which I want to turn into a reality not only in Technopark, but in many other places where acute parking problems exist. I had invested a huge amount for the demo facility,” Abraham said, adding that he was under acute financial liability now. Courtesy : http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/Ambitious-Parking-Project-in-Technopark-Hits-a-Dead-End/2013/12/16/article1947355.ece