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| Illegally-parked vehicles at Unit-I in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati |
Bhubaneswar, Sept. 17: The traffic wing of the Cuttack-Bhubaneswar police has intensified a drive against illegally parked vehicles on busy roads ahead of the festive season.
The police towed away around 15 vehicles from near Unit-I market and Big Bazaar last night. While the erring owners had to pay hefty fines to get their vehicles released, spot fines were collected from about 200 other people.
“We will continue this drive and fine people by following the Odisha Urban Police Act if they do not stick to the rules and park their vehicles on the roads,” said assistant commissioner of police Binod Das.
Officials said parking was allowed on two left lanes on several roads because there were no parking lots around. However, people had been parking their vehicles even on the third lane leaving only a single lane for vehicular movement, and this was causing serious traffic problems.
“We want people to be aware and not create chaos on the road,” said Das.
However, several people were upset with the way the traffic police towed away their vehicles last night.
“The parking lots around Big Bazaar were full. We saw people parking their vehicles in the no-parking zone. I kept my vehicle at one such place and later found that it had been towed away by the traffic police,” said Siba Prasad Patra, a college student.
Jiten Panda, an employee of a private firm, said he had kept his motorcycle at a parking lot managed by Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) near Unit-I market last evening but later found his vehicle towed away.
“When I asked, they said my vehicle was on the third lane, which was not meant for parking. Then, I showed them my ticket, following which they let me off,” said Panda, adding that the police must take steps against the parking lot manager who allowed people to park illegally.
Many people complained that there were not enough parking lots in and around busy market places and shopping malls.
“If you give us parking lots, we will not park our vehicles elsewhere. The police harass us without trying to arrange for such facilities. What kind of policing is this?” said Renubala Mohanty, a government employee.
Deputy commissioner of police Nitinjeet Singh said though they had identified 73 spots in the city for parking lots, the authorities concerned were not taking further steps.
“Certain problems have cropped up in acquiring land. Once we cross this hurdle, we will start work on building new parking lots,” said a BMC official.