Illegal auto parking creates nuisance

While just a few days prior to the rains the local civic authorities have started cleaning up the storm water drains, other factors may just add to the monsoon woes. In areas like Swastik Park, near Sushrut and Mangal Anand Hospitals, a host of auto-rickshaws are parked overnight till almost 10 am which prevent the clean-up operations.

The parked autos make cleaning of the road difficult

These three wheelers are parked after about 11 pm in an angular manner which also prevents a free flow of traffic.
One of the residents from the area remarks, "The autos now occupy the complete stretch of the road. At the corner of the traffic island, there are two or three rows of parking. It is difficult for the local vehicle owners to even remove their cars out of their buildings." 

The problem seems to be getting bigger as more and more autos are being parked in the area sometimes depriving even the local car owners or visitors to the hospitals from parking their cars.  When the Suman Nagar traffic police were contacted, their reply was that these roads were 'no parking' zones as there are three major hospitals and a wedding hall in the area. M Tamboli admits that autos parked in these area are being done so illegally but he adds, "Our cranes to remove these vehicles are available only after 10:30 in the morning."

The biggest hurdle posed by such parking is that the municipal workers are unable to sweep the sides of the road in the mornings. Besides, the heaps of garbage piled along these roads as a result of storm water drain dredging remains uncleared. Since the piles have been lying there for many days now, most of the garbage has dried up and spreads to the centre of the road as the autos move out. 

 V Sudarshan, another resident, observes, "These autos are not necessarily belonging to the residents of the slums nearby. Quite a few are from outside the area. Autos are supposed to park overnight only in certain designated areas for which the Road Traffic authority takes a certain charge on a monthly basis. Obviously, these autos have been avoiding the payment and also creating a nuisance." Other nuisance makers too take advantage of this whole line of parked autos and use it as an open toilet.

When the Conservancy Department of M(W)-ward was contacted, they said that they would look into the matter. The concerned department has a garbage collection centre off the Eastern Express Highway, quite close to the concerned area. When the person in charge was approached he said, "If the vehicle parking is coming in the way of municipal sweepers' duties, our Nuisance Detectors (NDs) have the authority to slap a fine on these autos.

But our sweepers have not brought any such complaint." He said that he would post a few nuisance detectors in the night to check on this but so far no nuisance detector has been seen in the area. The M-ward official assured that he would take the help of the RTO to clear the mess but over a fortnight has passed and no action has been taken. With the heaps of garbage at the roadside and unswept roads to add to the problem, there is little doubt that when the rains come, flooding is bound to take place on these roads.