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Berhampur, Aug. 3: A smooth ride to Fire Station road, Mayuri Towers, Satya Narayan Temple Road has become almost impossible.
No matter what form of transport you use, parking is a big headache if you want to visit any of these three areas.
On-street parking has resulted in major traffic congestion and the Berhampur Municipal Corporation is having a tough time dealing with it.
Parking at Fire Station Road, in front of Mayuri Towers and Satya Narayan Temple Road causes serious traffic congestion, as the roads were narrow. Motorcycles and bicycles parked here made the situation worse, said Sriram Patnaik, a resident of Dalua Street. The corporation must find a way to solve this problem, he said.
Commissioner of the corporation Akshya Kumar Mohanty, however, expressed helplessness. “We have no wide roads here. But we are taking the problem seriously. Lack of parking space has forced us to take a decision about the illegal parking of motorcycles and bicycles. If we cannot stop such parking, the traffic condition will worsen,” Mohanty said.
Corporation authorities are planning to build a modern multi-storey parking lot at the Old Bus Stand area, which would be used to park of all types of vehicles. The vehicle owners will have to pay parking fees.
The Old Bus Stand area was used by the OSRTC buses since 1950 and was the allotted to the corporation by the government. However, is yet to be handed over to the BMC, said Mohanty. “We have already contacted architects for the purpose and we will see whether additional facilities can be provided after constructing the parking lot,” he said.
“On-street parking blocks public roads and is illegal. The BMC is earning money out of this. Public roads can’t be used as parking space and the resolution by the BMC earlier in the council meeting is also illegal,” said Bhagaban Sahu, a senior advocate in Berhampur. Surya Narayan Patnaik, another senior advocate, also pointed a finger at the BMC for the lack of planned parking.
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