Open house: What steps should be taken to check Illegal parking along roads in the city?

Due to roadside parking of vehicles, a lot of inconvenience is caused to commuters and pedestrians. But this problem can’t be resolved by a single step, it needs other measures like reviving the motor-garage culture. Immediately after independence, every newly built house in residential areas like Katra Sher Singh used to have a garage so as to park the vehicles there, thus avoiding the main road or footpath. Even the Municipal Committee office at Town Hall used to have a garage for the vehicle of Executive Officer and Secretary. It should be mandatory to have a parking place of one’s own or on rent before buying any vehicle. In many parts of the Civil Lines area, the Municipal Corporation is floating tenders for authorised parking on the roadside, i.e., around court complex, from old library of Rani Ka Bagh to Government College for Women etc. Such illegal parking should not be allowed. Many commercial complexes like shopping areas, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and banks are allowed without parking lots or parking space mentioned in the approved plan. Strict action should be taken against the defaulters. Last but not least, the Central government should give relief in income tax for all the earnings from parking lots in private sector, so that more and more parking places are provided for the ever increasing number of vehicles in the city.

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Naresh Johar

Tow away wrongly parked vehicles

The foremost step the authorities should take to ensure the smooth flow of traffic is to ply a large number of tow-away vehicles across the city. Where ever drivers of such vehicles find illegal parking along roads, they should take immediate action by removing them from roads by towing them away. This will clear blocked roads and help in preventing traffic jams. Secondly, the city authorities should create a large number of parking spaces across the city, whether paid or unpaid, so that no one parks their vehicles illegally on roads. Lastly, as Amritsar city dwellers are in the habit of parking their vehicles illegally on roads where ever they find space, heavy fine needs to be imposed on defaulters so that they mend their ways in future.

Sanjay Chawla

High-rise parking only solution

The rate of growth of cars and two- wheelers in Amritsar has outpaced the limited area of city roads and the requirements of human population, particularly in the last two decades, whereas the facilities for their parking have not grown accordingly. In fact, many car owners don’t have any space or garage of their own, but own a four-wheeler which occupies road space all the time, and hinders movement of smooth traffic. Long ramps and safety grills constructed on each side in the city further eat into road space and cars are often stuck midway. The very idea of responsible parking is alien to Amritsar residents who consider it their birthright to keep their vehicle(s) parked in front of their home or shop. You can see even totally damaged or unserviceable old cars with flattened tyres abandoned here and there, including slip roads along the GT Road, gathering bird droppings and dust only to occupy road space permanently, with no attempt from any authority to remove the eyesore and streamline traffic. There are some good parking lots near religious places, but very few for the general public, Saragarhi Parking, Kairon Market and Deen Dayal Upadhya Parking notwithstanding. The need of the hour is to construct suitably located high-rise parking lots and strictly adhere to rules. Irresponsible parking should be prevented by being active in the forenoon, and taking stringent action against violators, towing away the car to a distant spot being the minimum that could be done. Traffic authorities must insist on proof of a garage owned by the buyer, before registering a new car in their name, because some mechanism must be introduced to check the number of new vehicles plying on already choked city roads.

Prof Mohan Singh

Create mobile app for parking

Illegal and haphazard parking along streets and roads, especially during peak hours, often leads to traffic congestion in cities, making it difficult for commuters to reach their destination on time. To address this issue, residents and the administration need to adopt some small yet impactful steps, such as deploying attendants by the market associations to assist visitors in parking their vehicles, providing valet parking services for women, senior citizens and differently-abled, deputing traffic police personnel at strategic points along the city roads, installing and maintaining functional automated traffic lights, promoting carpooling and introducing City Rapid Bus Service along with various incentives like discounts, vouchers or free parking gift cards for regular users. These measures could help in preventing traffic snarl-ups. Pick-up and drop-off points should be earmarked along streets and roads for auto-rickshaws. An odd-even system, like the one in Delhi, could also be tried. Pop-up parking in open spaces like parks or unused lots could be set up, and people should be encouraged to use public transport. To ensure that nobody should encroach on parking space, strict action should be taken against violators. To further ease parking-related problems, the authorities can develop a mobile app for booking a parking spot by paying online in advance. The app can display the availability of parking spaces in real-time and guide drivers to the nearest vacant spot. Authorities should designate specific parking areas with rational time-based parking charges, and establish park-and-ride facilities with online parking reservations. They should also enforce parking regulations by collaborating with businesses, engaging the community, ensuring emergency response routes, and continually assessing and adjusting strategies to ensure smooth travelling during peak hours.

Dr Kulwant Singh Phull

Tackle encroachments, challan govt vehicles

Traffic hazards can be witnessed at various points of the metropolitan cities from 8 am to 8 pm. The entry points of the cities always witness traffic hazards, be it Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Amritsar or other major towns. The reason is a manifold increase in the number of cars and scooters in the cities. The cities are expanding and the breadth of the roads is declining due to an increase in the number of vehicles. The cities where elevated roads have been constructed are under pressure from traffic hazards. Due to limited car parking, they are mostly filled to capacity and vehicle owners have to sometimes park on the roadsides due to an emergency. The traffic police come into action and lift the cars from various points in the city. The vehicle owner is then made to pay a fine before being handed back the vehicle. Will this solve the problem of traffic hazards? Unless and until more parking space is created, the problem is not going to be solved. Because of an ever increasing number of vehicles, the existing parking spaces are already full to the brim. Multi-storey shopping malls have come into existence and the problem is that some of them do not have underground parking and the vehicle owner parks the car on the side of roads. Who should be held responsible — vehicle owner, owner of multi-storey building who did not construct underground parking or did not make alternative arrangements for parking? The roads are now squeezing in breadth due to pedestrian footpaths which are mostly used by the shopkeepers to extend their shops or those who sell eatables. A major question that needs answers is whether the government cars parked wrongly

are being issued challans? There are a number of roads where the encroachment by shopkeepers upsets the movement of vehicles.

Rajat Kumar Mohindru

Deploy motion sensing detectors

In recent times, the cities have witnessed a significant rise in vehicular traffic which has resulted in severe unethical parking. The issue has become so overwhelming that people are struggling to find parking space

for their vehicles. As a result, several drivers have resorted to creating their own unauthorised parking areas. This has resulted in the emergence of a severe traffic congestion problem in the city, which is now considered as one of the biggest concerns for the citizens. The traffic police personnel are finding it difficult to manage the situation as the problem has become too enormous to handle without proper management. Despite their efforts, the situation has not improved much, and the traffic congestion has continued to worsen, creating a sense of chaos and frustration among the citizens. The government needs to act to change this cliche of on-road parking. First and foremost is to own unauthorised parking areas. This has resulted in the emergence of severe traffic congestion in the city, which is now considered as one of the biggest concerns for the citizens. The traffic police personnel are finding it difficult to manage the situation as the problem has become too enormous to handle without proper management. Despite their efforts, the situation has not improved much, and the traffic congestion has continued to worsen, creating a sense of chaos and frustration among the citizens. The next step can be to apply motion sensing detectors and cameras on the street. These sensors can ease the burden on the officials. Any vehicle stagnant for over half an hour should be reported to the nearest thana or traffic check booth. This will help to locate the area and notify the authorities. The rest of the solution is the most common one, which is awareness. There should be campaigns and awareness programmes in all parts of the city to improve the situation for the people.

Lakshit Jindal

Install CCTV cameras for best results

With the ever increasing load of new vehicles on the roads, the parking problem is one of the most challenging for city traffic management. The problem is aggravated with lack of sufficient parking spaces and equally because of non-implementation of city parking plans. As a long-term measure, the administration needs to build and maintain parking infrastructure at major city points known for heavy volumes of traffic and earmarking available spaces on the roadsides for temporary parking. Such places must be supported by proper signages with timings allowed. CCTV cameras should be installed for strict monitoring through centralised control room and the system of levying online penalties for violations needs to be enforced on regular basis. Moreover, there should be zero tolerance towards any kind of encroachment on the roads and streets by the shopkeepers and the vendors. Public awareness about the parking plans in particular and traffic discipline in general should be created through every type of media available.

Jagdish Chander

Draw line to clear parking mess

With increasing density of automobiles, parking is indeed a big concern in almost all cities. Due to the paucity of designated parking lots near business centres, the vehicles are often parked along roads, streets and even on pavements meant for pedestrians. Look at the famous Mall Road in Kapurthala, where every citizen preferred to go for a walk is now marred by haphazard stationing of vehicles besides a mesh of food eateries/rehries, polluting the environment. The traffic police are not so serious and the problem of encroachments and illegal parking is aggravating day by day. Not only does it cause inconvenience to the residents, but is a nightmare for the commuters as well. The irony is that not enough space for parking and green belts is reserved even now when marketing or housing expansion is carried. Of late, though efforts have been made to decongest the crowded places in a few cities by shifting offices/establishments to outside areas, the vacated space is sadly used again to construct commercial shops or malls instead of developing public parks or parking lots there. The civic administration is required to address the acute parking issues and take effective steps to stop illegal parking on roads, lanes or in front of shops and offices. While constructing multi-storey parking lots will meet the space constraints, one-way traffic movement or restricted entry of vehicles to crowded places can be helpful for easing the snarls during peak congestion hours. Simultaneously, CCTV network be expanded for close vigil on stray animals and reckless driving to get rid of many fatal accidents and road rage cases being reported every day. Besides, strict penalties be imposed to deter encroachments and illegal parking on roads and streets. In all, a robust action plan is most desirable to promote civility in public life and lend glory to our environment.

Nirmaljit Singh Chatrath

Implement ‘one car, one family’ norm

The problem of parking cars has assumed a dangerous proportion. It is a veritable headache for a car owner to park his or her car at a safe and designated place. With no proper planning, cities and towns are finding it difficult to provide space for car parking. As the citizens of the country have gravitated to the era of conspicuous consumption, the population of cars or private vehicles has gone up exponentially. These days, a car can be purchased on easy loan. This has triggered a car boom on the roads, which in turn, has compounded the issue of parking. Both tough and soft steps can be initiated to contain the problem. But it is imperative to contain the population of cars on our roads. One family, one car policy should be framed. The easy loan policy for the second car should be made a bit tough for the borrower. These two small but important steps can help address the issue to some extent.

Prof Rajan Kapoor

Create layout plans on MC website

All traffic jams are not due to illegal parking by people in the cities but because of the wrong implementation of master plans by urban development authorities or municipal corporations. Master plans are prepared through the involvement of all concerned departments of the city by the town planning wing where concerns related to proper parking for smooth traffic in the city are also addressed. Once the city master plan is finalised, layout plans are made for individual colonies or commercial establishments. All layout plans of the colonies have demarcated boundary components like residential areas, commercial buildings, green belts, green parks, institutional land, reserve land, road network, parking spaces etc. Once the layout plan is finalised for a particular colony or commercial establishment, this should be made available on the websites of all urban development authorities. Unfortunately, nothing is available on the websites, rather these development authorities change layout plans for the privileged class or politically connected, that too without asking for objection-raising exercises from the immediate residents. Moreover, once the layout plans are changed, a newer one gets superimposed on the previous layout plan and the changed layout plan becomes the latest layout plan. Moreover, the tenure of IAS or PCS officers who are immediately concerned officers of these urban regularities is not fixed. Sometimes in a single year, five or six bureaucrats get changed in these urban development authorities or municipal corporations. Hence, accountability of change of layout plans cannot be fixed. Changes in the layout plan involve making illegal buildings on green belts or on roads or even spaces kept for parking that lead to irregular parking on roads, and hence, traffic jams. At some places, roads are tightened just to give land to public institutional buildings which also leads to irregular parking, and hence, traffic jams on roads. Now the question arises as to how the menace of change of approved and finalised layout plans can be stopped. The answer is that while allotting plots/shops to the allottees, a finalised layout plan of the concerned colony should be provided to all residents along with an allotment letter. This will curb the haphazard change of layout plans by autocratic bureaucrats and subsequently eliminate the causes that result in irregular parking and also traffic jams on roads. Further, latest guide maps should be put up in all government-approved/private coloniser-made colonies where the latest layout plans should be depicted. Any proposed change in the layout plan should be asked from immediate residents so that a value-based society free from irregular parking and air pollution caused by traffic jams can be developed in this highly corrupt, non-transparent, and misgoverning system led by urban development authorities.

Harvinder Singh Chugh

Question for next week

While residents continue to face civic issues such as overflowing sewers, garbage dumps and potholed roads, politicians are on stone-laying spree for development projects. Shouldn’t they focus on completion of pending works and prioritise quality over quantity?

Suggestions in not more than 200 words can be sent to jalandhardesk@tribunemail.com by Thursday (Mar 14)