The glitzy Commercial Street with its branded showrooms, and the parallel Ibrahim Saheb Street, where smaller shops offer tempting deals on their wares, may beckon shoppers from various parts of the City. But shoppers making a beeline to the area by their private vehicles usually end up going in circles finding the elusive parking slots.
While most of the 75 paid parking slots for four wheelers on Commercial street are almost always taken, two-wheelers belonging to either shoppers or shop-keepers are found crammed into the parking areas on the narrow Ibrahim Saheb Street and adjoining by-lanes for most part of the day. To prevent two-wheelers from blocking the entrance to their shops, the merchants place metal grates to facilitate the entry of shoppers.
The traffic police officials cite limited availability of space to the parking woes of shoppers. In any such congested shopping hub, the onus is on the shop keepers to voluntarily desist from occupying the meagre parking area for their own vehicles and instead allow space for the vehicles of shoppers, police said.
The traffic police can take action by seizing the metal grates placed in front of the shops as it amounts to encroachment, a traffic police official of the area said.
However, Ajay Motwani, Chairman of Business Promotion, Commercial Street Shop Owners’ Association, said a viable solution to the parking woes should come from the Government authorities if the decades-old legacy of shopping in Commercial Street area is to be protected against competition from the new age shopping malls, which have in-built parking space.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic-East) Rajendra Kumar said the civic authorities should build a multi-storeyed parking space within a short distance if the parking woes are to be addressed.
Usurping the parking space
In a city struggling with its woefully inadequate parking space, motorists find it increasingly frustrating to see even the designated parking areas “reserved” by hotels and business establishments exclusively for their patrons.
Unable to provide parking facilities in their buildings as most do not have the mandatory parking spaces, these establishments deploy their security personnel to “unofficially” man the parking zones. Irking motorists who do not intend to enter these establishments, the personnel, illegal though, even ask them to move their vehicle away from these designated zones, often resulting in arguments. Not only are the designated spaces usurped, many establishments also encroach the footpath to facilitate parking for their patrons.
According to Additional Commissioner (Traffic) B. Dayanand, hotels or business establishments cannot claim right over the designated parking spaces that is meant for public use.
