Bhubaneswar, Dec. 3: The traffic wing of the city police has intensified its drive against illegal parking.
It has penalised 192 two-wheelers and cars and 42 buses in the past one week.
The main purpose of the drive is to ensure that vehicles do not encroach upon no-parking zones, a police officer said.
"Most of the time people park their vehicles on roads that leads to traffic congestion. We have also installed signboards to prevent parking of vehicles within 30 metre on each side of the road intersections. We want to enforce these strictly. The drive will be further intensified," said assistant commissioner of police (traffic), Jatindra Kumar Panda.
Earlier on August 13, the police had notified 20 places in the city as no-parking zones with restrictions being imposed on parking of vehicles within 30 metres on each side of the road intersections.
The no-parking zones are Behera Sahi Square, Kalpana Square, Museum Square, Jayadev Vihar Square, Xavier Square, Nalco Square, Patia Square, Vani Vihar Square, Rupali Square, IDBI Square, Sriya Square, Rajmahal Square, Sishu Bhavan Square, New Airport Square, Capital Hospital Square, AG Square, PMG Square, Housing Board Square, Nicco Park Square and Acharya Vihar Square.
According to the notification, offenders parking their vehicles in these restricted zones will be fined, which may extend up to Rs 500.
The traffic wing of the police has three towing cranes of which one is at present lying defunct, while another is being used for lifting heavy vehicles during road mishaps. "They need one more towing vehicle to lift vehicles, especially cars, as the available one can be used to tow only one car at a time," said a police official.
Sources in the police said that the cops had asked the state government to provide them with a bigger crane to tow away four-wheelers.
Illegal parking of vehicles, especially buses on various busy roads, remains a major concern for the police.
"There are designated bus bays in the city to pick and drop passengers. However, most often drivers flout the rules leading to congestions," said a police official.
