Confirming this, NMC traffic engineer Nasir Khan
told TOI that some shop owners in the vicinity don’t want the scheme as
they feel it will hamper their business. “A major portion on both sides
and pavements along the Sadar Link Road have been encroached upon by
automobile repair shops,” he said. From autorickshaws to trucks, one can
spot mechanics repairing vehicles along this road during any time of
the day.

Pedestrians find it difficult to use the footpaths as
they have been allegedly encroached upon by the shopkeepers. Harried
motorists want the stretch to be de-congested. “Authorities must take
action to remove these encroachments which cause congestion during peak
hours,” they demanded.

Khan pointed out that in May this year, the then municipal commissioner Sanjeev Jaiswal
and commissioner of police Ankush Dhanvijay had conducted a joint
operation to clear these encroachments. Later in early July, NMC had
reintroduced the pay and park scheme at commercial places across the
city, including the Link Road. The NMC also erected four pay-and-park
signboards here. A couple of days ago, some miscreants removed these
boards and the mechanics resumed their work.

However, the
shopkeepers’ association has opposed the pay-and-park scheme. A
delegation of the Link Road Vyapari Sangh led by President CN Harsulkar
met deputy mayor Sandip Jadhav
on this issue. Maintaining that the parking scheme on the road has
adversely affected their business, Harsulkar said the NMC should instead
use vacant plots as parking spaces.

Blaming the civic body for
not providing parking space for shop owners, Harsulkar said, “It is not
possible for us and our employees to pay parking fees everyday. We
oppose the move and it is NMC’s duty to provide us a separate parking
space.” The association has also requested the civic body to study
possibilities of setting up ‘multi-level parking’ system in the city.

Nasir Khan said his department has sent a complaint to additional deputy municipal commissioner, Ravindra Kumbhare,
and “we have also approached commissioner of police, Ankush Dhanvijay,
to deploy at least four police personnel on this road to ensure proper
implementation of the pay-and-park scheme. We have also discussed the
encroachment issue with the police officials. The cops have assured to
take steps against these illegal shops. We will soon restart the
scheme,” said Khan.

According to DCP (traffic) Jivaraj Dabhade,
if the pay-and-park scheme is implemented in this part of the city, it
would solve congestion problem not only on Kamptee road but also at
Residency Road.