Unauthorised parking of two-wheelers adjoining the Goubert Market has made accessing the Mahatma Gandhi Road from Jawaharlal Nehru Street a Herculean task.
One can witness layers of two-wheelers parked on either side on the junction that joins MG Road and J N Street near the Goubert Market.
Vehicles coming on to JN Street from Raja Theatre junction find it extremely difficult to take a right turn on to MG Road as the road has almost become a parking lot near the fish market. Similarly, vehicles coming from Ajantha Signal side of MG Road also find it difficult to access the stretch from JN Street junction to Rangapillai Street.
“The small stretch on MG Road from JN Street to Rangapillai Street gets choked on most days due to unregulated parking of two-wheelers. Parking of two-wheelers on either side is not something new to Puducherry. But on these small stretches we could see layers of two-wheelers, one behind the other near the fish market. The carriage space of the road becomes very less because of such parking, said Vishwa, a resident of Prashanthi Street, Lawspet.
Travelling on the stretch becomes more difficult during weekends due to rush for shopping and arrival of tourists, he added.
The traffic problem on the stretch gets more complicated as shopkeepers occupy a good part of the road by keeping railings to give access for customers.
“They keep big iron railings which extends from the platform to the road. The shopkeepers keep the railings to prevent people from parking two-wheelers in front of their shops. Parking of vehicles will block access to the shops. But by keeping these railings, they block movement of vehicles and pedestrians,” said a traffic policeman.
The Municipality should take action against such shops, he said adding that the parking of two-wheelers could be prevented only if we could provide people an alternative place for keeping their vehicles on JN Street and MG Road.
The parking lot in Old Jail Complex gets easily filled and after that people are compelled to park on the nearby streets. The government should also take stern steps for shifting the fish market from JN Street, he added
“A multi-level parking lot on J N Street will only solve the parking problem in the town,” he said.
