You would have read this in the Internet or at least heard it somewhere. A businessman walked into a New York City bank and asked for the loan officer. He said he was going to Europe on business for two weeks and needed to borrow $5,000. The loan officer said the bank would need some security for such a loan.

The business man then handed over the keys to a Rolls Royce that was parked on the street in front of the bank. Everything checked out and the loan officer accepted the car as collateral for the loan. An employee then drove the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parked it there.Two weeks later the businessman returned, repaid the $5,000 and the interest which came to $15.41.

The loan officer said, "We do appreciate your business and this transaction has worked out very nicely, but we are a bit puzzled. While you were away we checked and found that you are a multimillionaire. What puzzles us is why you would bother to borrow $5,000?"

The business man replied: "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for fifteen bucks?"

This is the situation in every city all over the world. Chennai is no exception. Until six or seven years ago, the problem was not so acute. With hundreds of new vehicles arriving in the already congested roads, parking is the biggest problem in the city.

There is a severe shortage of street and off street parking in the city. . In 2004, total peak parking demand in Chennai city was 13,000 PCE (passenger car equivalents). The availability was just about 5000 PCE.. Four years down the road, the situation is awful now.

In this context, Minister M K Stalin's announcement in the assembly on Wednesday that multi-level car parking lots would be built in three areas in the city has come as a big relief. Unless we move forward with modern amenities, the city-dwellers will find it difficult to manage the day-today activities.