The Hindu 25.07.2012
Parking woes continue
Who cares?:Buses of a corporate school parked on the Lakshmipuram main
road turn out to be a bottleneck in the smooth flow of traffic in
Guntur. —Photo: T. Vijaya Kumar
pot-holed roads, the thought of parking is becoming a nightmare. Park
your vehicle in front of a bank, school or a restaurant, chances are
most likely that the vehicle would be lifted and taken to the traffic
police station.
The cops come without warning and
pick the vehicle and mount it on the van. The vehicles are paraded on
the main roads before dumped in the traffic police station.
The
police do not give any tags for violation of parking, which itself is a
compoundable offence. According to the law, an officer of the rank of
inspector has the power to issue tickets/tags. But here, a constable is
enough to humiliate you and summon your vehicle to the station. The tag
is then issued at the traffic police station by the inspector.
The
cup of woes for the hapless man on the street is complete when he pays a
penalty and collects his vehicle, often in a damaged condition.
Worse,
the traffic cops pat their backs claiming that the enforcement drive
against illegal parking is working wonders. The commuter breaks his back
in retrieving his vehicle.
But there is also another
side to the coin. Those driving along the Lakshmipuram Road would find
that the road is being blatantly used as a parking bay by educational
institutions. Buses of a corporate Intermediate college are parked
throughout the day, eating into the road space and becoming a bottleneck
in ensuring a smooth flow of traffic.
The traffic police, however, turn a blind eye to this violation for obvious reasons, but heap misery on the common man.Senior
officers, who chant the EEE (Education, Engineering and Enforcement)
mantra at traffic awareness meet, should now look more carefully at the
Engineering part.
The Guntur Municipal Corporation
should be made to create parking spaces in places earmarked on the main
roads. Construction of multi-level complexes in commercial areas should
be taken up on priority basis. Staggered parking on the main roads
should be allowed. For instance, parking could be allowed during hours
when the flow of traffic is relatively thin.