The special drive by the traffic police against dangerous parking, wrong parking and parking at no-parking zones has not only created huge confusion among vehicle commuters, but also put them into a lot of difficulty, in the city on Monday.
The special drive was taken up on eight arterial roads such as KGH, Zilla Parishad, Seven Hills Hospital, Jagadamba, Dabagardens, Asilmetta, Rama Talkies Road and Maddilapalem.
Caught unawares
Many, including senior citizens were caught unawares and made to cough up huge fine amounts that ranged between Rs. 200 and Rs. 1,000. While for motorcycles it was Rs. 200 for four-wheelers it was Rs. 1,000.
At many places, the motorists were seen engaged in a heated exchange with the police personnel.
A senior citizen, who parked his car on the Rama Talkies Road, was made to pay a fine of Rs. 1,000. Talking to The Hindu , he said, “I know that the place where I parked was not meant for parking. But where is the place to park my vehicle. When I asked the police officer to show me the place so that I can move the vehicle, he shrugged it off by saying ‘I don’t know, find your way’. That was not the answer that I expected,” he said.
This was the case with many citizens. And a number of motorists, who had come to the KGH and Zilla Parishad area, for medical check-ups with sick persons had to bear the brunt of the special drive.
“What we want is a designated area or a solution to the parking problem. Where do we park our vehicles,” said a 70-year-old sick man.
Blame game
The parking problem has become a recurrent internal war between the GVMC and the Police Department.
While the GVMC officials say it is the duty of the police to clear the road, the police say the GVMC officials are not doing their duty by providing the parking space.
A senior traffic inspector said, “Every high-rise medical centre has allotted the cellar area to a diagnostic centre or medical shops. The cellar is meant for parking. It is the responsibility of the GVMC to clear the cellars. The GVMC officials have colluded with the owners and have taken no action. The same is the case with shopping malls and other stores on the other roads,” he said. GVMC had earlier identified about 330 shops where cellars were to be cleared. While the GVMC officials claim that 80 per cent of the cellars have been cleared, the police say barely 20 per cent has been cleared and many of the cleared cellars are yet to become operational for parking. A senior GVMC official told The Hindu that the cellar clearance drive is hit due to political interference.
“The cellars are not cleared and the pavements are encroached by the hawkers. The hawker zones are not created and our proposal to create multi-level parking is in the cold storage. GVMC has to sail with us if the parking problem is to be solved. We cannot afford to have regular special drive, considering the shortage of staff, ,” said a senior police officer.
According to ADCP (Traffic) K. Mahendra Patrudu, the permanent solution lies in creating cellar parking, organised road-side parking on hourly payment basis, creation of hawker zones and constructing multi-level parking facility.
“The parking woes can be sorted out with a team work between the police, GVMC and the public,” said Mr. Mahendra Patrudu.. He said during the special drive 178 car owners were booked and collected Rs. 1.6 lakh as fine while Rs. 50,780 was collected from two-wheeler riders for violating norms.
What we want is a designated area or a solution to the parking problem. Where do we park our vehicles, says a 70-year-old patient, who had to pay fine for parking vehicle near hospital
