The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : How haphazard parking shrinks busy roads

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Aug 15, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

How haphazard parking shrinks busy roads

L. Srikrishna

Exclusive zones in T. Nagar suggested

"Schools may be designated as parking zones during holidays”

CHENNAI: “Please do not park your vehicles in front of this building” read signboards in front of almost every building in the city, particularly those close to commercial establishments. This, however, does not deter drivers from parking their vehicles and vanish.

The problem is acute in residential localities where, especially at night, roadsides turn into parking lots for call taxis and tourist cabs. This causes hardships to the residents and result in limited space for road-users. In the event of medical emergencies, people find it difficult to rush to hospitals. The problem is compounded if the roads are narrow.

According to Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sunil Kumar, resident welfare associations in Egmore, K.K.Nagar, Aminjikarai, Pudupet, Virugambakkam, West Mambalam, Adyar, Guindy and some more areas have complained about unauthorised parking of taxis in their localities and sought action.

Following this, all traffic police officers have been directed to take stock of the number of vehicles parked “on road sides” in each police station limits. Once the process was completed, strict action would be initiated as per law, he said.

Kennet Lane in Egmore right opposite the Police Commissioner’s Office, Ayyavoo Naidu Colony in Aminjikarai, behind TNEB office on Anna Salai, Lakshmanasamy Salai in K.K.Nagar, L.B.Road in Adyar, Arcot Road and Virugambakkam Road and Jawaharlal Nehru Salai in Guindy and Arunachalam Street in Chintadripet are some examples where unauthorised parking is rampant. Similarly, it goes unchecked in Mylapore, Mandaveli, Triplicane and Radhakrishnan Salai as well, residents complain.

Soon after assuming office Commissioner Nanchil Kumaran told reporters that he would accord top priority to redressal of grievances related to traffic.

Pedestrian zones

Among the measures under considerations of the police are new parking arrangements in busy T. Nagar. A police officer in the area suggested earmarking of exclusive pedestrian zones, vehicle parking zones and vehicle movement zones in T. Nagar.

Such an arrangement may provide a great relief to all road-users and commercial establishments in the area, he added. Shopkeepers in the area also favour a system of premium parking fees for vehicles. Under this, the fee on select stretches in T.Nagar would be higher than those charged elsewhere in the area.

With Saturdays and Sundays being holidays for most schools in the area, traffic police could also work out modalities to use the grounds in the institutions for vehicle parking as traffic flow was more during weekends. The shopkeepers also suggest that the schools may be designated as parking zones during festivals such as Dussera and Deepavali, a period when the institutions are also closed.

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