The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday disapproved of the practice of a majority of commercial establishments not allocating adequate space for vehicle parking within their premises and consequently forcing people to park their vehicles on public roads much to the disadvantage of free flow of vehicular traffic.
During the course of hearing of a public interest litigation petition filed against a popular restaurant at bypass road here, a Division Bench of Justices A. Selvam and P. Kalaiyarasan expressed their displeasure over the local body officials too turning a blind eye to such unmindful activities of owners of hotels, hospitals and other such establishments.
“If this situation continues, then ailing patients will have to start using air ambulances to reach hospitals in case of emergency. Where is the space these days for free flow of traffic? It has become very common to see traffic snarls due to artificial bottlenecks created due to narrowing down of motorable space by vehicles parked on both sides of roads,” Mr. Justice Selvam lamented.
The judges later directed the petitioner’s counsel to file an application for appointment of an advocate commissioner to ascertain whether the restaurant in bypass road had allocated enough space for vehicle parking. “Let the commissioner inspect the place and give a report. We shall pass appropriate orders after that,” the senior judge said before adjourning the case to April 3.
