Hawkers have marched into the city's largest parking lot under the upcoming Jagdeo Path-Sheikhpura Mor flyover, casting a shadow on the ambitious plan of creating space for 800 vehicles to ensure smooth traffic flow on Bailey Road.
The Bihar Rajya Pul Nirman Nigam (BRPNN) has started putting paver blocks between the pillars of the 2.275-km-long flyover to make space for around 800 vehicles. But street vendors and squatters have started encroaching upon the parking lot by putting up their carts and stalls
Officials claimed that the district administration and the Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) were responsible for evicting the encroachers. "But neither is paying any attention to the issue," said an official.
"The purpose behind the development of the parking lot under the flyover is to solve the parking problem in Jagdeopath and Raja Bazaar - two busy commercial spots. According to our estimate, nearly 800 vehicles would be parked on the either side of the parking lot underneath the flyover, paving way for smooth traffic movement on the base (Bailey) road. But street vendors have started encroaching upon it before the development of the parking lot under the entire stretch of the flyover," said a senior official of BRPNN, associated with the project.
The official said letters communicating the encroachment issue has been sent to the Patna district administration and three police stations - Shastri Nagar, Airport and Rupaspur - as the flyover passes through their jurisdiction.
"It is the responsibility of the district administration and PMC to look after the encroachment issue but they do not seem to be taking any action. The civic body has to auction the parking lot to ensure the selected private contractor(s) look after them. If the encroachment issue is not resolved in the initial stage, it would be difficult to control it later," said the BRPNN official.
The PMC officials claimed that the parking lot under the Jagdeo Path-Sheikhpura Mor flyover could be auctioned only after it was notified.
"The parking lot under the flyover is yet to be notified as the municipal parking area. Besides, it does not seem wise to commence parking under a flyover under construction," said Vishal Anand, the executive officer of the New Capital circle of PMC.
According to the practice followed in the city to remove encroachment from the streets, the district administration and PMC first conduct frequent anti-encroachment drives. Thereafter, the local police station ensures that encroachers do not return.
"The policy decision with regard to declaring the area under the Jagdeo Path- Sheikhpura Mor flyover as a parking area has not been taken till date. But we shall take necessary action for removing encroachment on the road, which is a government property," said Patna district magistrate Abhay Kumar Singh.
Besides vendors encroaching upon the parking lot under the flyover, unwanted pamphlets and posters have adorned its pillars despite BRPNN's warning.
The removal of posters is also the responsibility of the district administration and the civic body.
The work on the Jagdeo Path-Sheikhpura Mor flyover started in December 2012.
According to the project details, the total length of the flyover is 2.275km, including 300m of approach road.
The flyover has four lanes with a width of 25 meters, the design ensuring that the pillars occupy minimum space.
Deliberating on the present status of the flyover, a BRPNN official said: "We have constructed 90 out of 95 pillars and placed 89 out of 95 slabs on the flyover. The work on the construction of the approach road is also going on in full swing on both ends of the flyover."
