Cuttack, Aug. 21: Cuttack police, after two months of inspection, have decided to act tough on private kalyan mandaps without parking space. If necessary, they may ban social functions on such premises.

A traffic police official said proliferation of private mandaps without parking places had led to increasing congestion on roads at various parts of the city. Parking of vehicles during social functions at these kalyan mandaps has become a menace.

“During a preliminary survey, we found that most of the private kalyan mandaps not only create traffic congestions, but also expose public gatherings to unsafe conditions,” assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Cuttack, Krushna Chandra Samal, told The Telegraph today.

The city has around 70 private kalyan mandaps. The deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Cuttack, Praveen Kumar, had in June directed the inspectors in charge (IICs) of the police stations in the city to report on the available parking arrangements near the kalyan mandaps.

This parking issue had been brought up recently at this month’s meeting of the high court-constituted Traffic Management Committee for Cuttack, which was headed by the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar commissioner of police.

The Cuttack DCP submitted a status report before the committee on kalyan mandaps in the city. He stated details on whether parking place was available, if necessary permission had been obtained from the Cuttack Development Authority, clearance from fire service department had been taken and whether the mandaps were suitable for hosting social functions.

While there was no parking place at more than 60 per cent of the kalyan mandaps, more than 40 per cent were not safe for hosting social functions, the report stated.

“We plan to issue closure notices to the kalyan mandaps violating safety and parking norms in the city. The CDA has been asked to verify the status report and provide an updated list of kalyan mandaps in the city. Once we receive the list from the CDA, it will be easier for us to enforce orders,” Samal said. The CDA is expected to submit the list during the next meeting of the Traffic Management Committee on September 7.

The status report submitted before the committee indicated that more than 50 per cent of the kalyan mandaps were running without permission from the CDA, fire services department and they did not even have the certificate for electrical connection.

Besides, the approach roads were not suitable for parking in most cases.

“Unless the people are provided with an alternative place of parking, they don’t have an option but to park on roads while attending marriages or other social functions at the mandaps,” said Saumendra Mishra, a resident of Markat Nagar.