On Sunday, Bengaluru’s Brigade Road became the first stretch in the city to have reserved parking slots exclusively for women.

Mayor Sampath Raj and Shantinagar MLA NA Haris inaugurated the reserved section of the automated pay-and-park facility on Bridage Road, TNIE reported.

The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike has now reserved 20% of the slots for women and in the first phase, 10 of the total 85 parking slots have been set aside for women alone, The Hindu reported.

“Women come to Brigade Road, be it after work or with their children. There are young working women also. Their safety becomes important. It is very difficult to find parking slots on this stretch. They have to park the car elsewhere and walk back. The 20% reserved parking slots for women aims at eliminating the difficulty in last mile connectivity and ensure their safety,” Mayor Sampath Raj told the media.

According to TOI, currently, 15% of the parking slots have been reserved for women on the MG Road side of the stretch.

“The reserved parking slots for women will be rolled out in a phased manner. Based on the response we get, we will also implement it for other roads. There will be a security guard deployed near the parking zone for women, cameras have been installed here to ensure their safety. This is the first road in the country to have reserved parking slots for women,” Mayor Sampath Raj added.

The Palike is all set to roll out exclusive parking spot for disabled persons as well. Mayour Sampath Raj said that to ensure easy accessibility and ensure their safety, the BBMP is in the process of rolling out a plan to provide reservation for disabled persons.

“This reservation will be in BBMP parking facilities and also on major stretches,” Sampath Raj said.