Double jeopardy on cramped lanes

Lane housing the Cricket Club of India faces perennial traffic problems, thanks to double and triple parking

Double jeopardy on cramped lanes

Lane housing the Cricket Club of India faces perennial traffic problems, thanks to double and triple parking

With parking space shrinking and hundreds of private cars adding to the existing fleet of 20.8 lakh four-wheelers every day, people are forced to cross over to the wrong side of the law, and park their vehicles in no parking zones in the city.

Even though only single-parking is allowed outside the CCI,
scores of cars park in three lines, causing traffic jams in the area

A classic example of the city's perennial parking problem is two-lane parking outside the Cricket Club of India (CCI) where only one lane parking is allowed. Car owners seem to care little about the consequences of illegal parking, which could amount to their vehicles being towed away, and imposition ofu00a0 hefty fines.

When MiD DAY visited Dinshaw Vachha Road where the CCI is located, it found that there were vehicles parked outside the line of the BMC's permitted pay and park area.

"The cars that are parked outside BMC's pay and park area mostly belong to people who visit the club.

During evening rush hour, one can see three lanes of cars parked here, while only one-lane parking is allowed," said the man on duty, He added that since he isu00a0 not authorised to take action on illegal parking, he informs the traffic cops.

But cops too pleaded helplessness in this case. A traffic police said, "When we confront the drivers, they move the cars out of the lane only to return and park their vehicles after some time.
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What can we do?" The BMC pay and park collector at Dinshaw Vachha Road said, "Around 90 per cent of the vehicles parked in the permitted area belong to the residents of this lane."

In 2009, the CCI had proposed to the BMC that theyu00a0 park on the pavement, whichu00a0 can accommodate an additional 72 cars. The proposal was scrapped following protests from residents.

Sevantilal Parekh, president of CCI said, "We may have a parking lot for our members on the CCI premises soon. The project for an underground parking lot is in the pipelines. Once this facility becomes operational, traffic chaos on the street will reduced to a great extent."

BMC's Chief Engineer (roads, bridges and traffic) S Badve said, "If there is illegal parking outside the CCI, then it is the traffic police department's job to tow away the vehicles and penalise the offenders. Our job is only to charge those cars which are parked in the BMC pay and park areas."

Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic) Nandkumar Chaugule said, "There is a lot of illegal parking on Dinshaw Vaccha Road, causing huge traffic jams. When our towing vehicles approach the road, we manage to tow away two-three cars, while the rest speed away."

He added, "Practically, it isn't possible for us to go there every day, as the entire city is facing the same problem. There isn't enough parking space, but the number of vehicles hitting the street is increasing every day.

DN Road, A, B, C, D roads and streets in Colaba face the same problems. We confiscate the licences of drivers and fine them, but nothing seems to be working. 'No parking' norms cannot be implemented fully. We book around 5,000 cars daily for parking in no parking zones every day."

Voices

There are new cars coming to the city every day, but we do not have a competent authority to reduce the parking problems. There cannot be an underground parking at CCI due to the presence of the sea nearby.u00a0
Deepak Kapadia, member of CCI

Parking is a nuisance in the lane, and the police should stop double and triple parking in the evenings. Parking on footpaths is not a good idea. The club should make arrangements for internal parking.
Gauri Nagji, resident of M K Road

The number of private cars in the city has touched a dizzying two million, and the figures seem to be multiplying each day.

To make matters worse, the city's car parks are ill-managed affairs, where vehicles jostle for space.
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Keeping this in mind, MiD DAY will be bringing you a series of reports on Mumbai's parking woes, trying to shed light on the various factors responsible for this growing crisis in the city.
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We will enquire into where, how and why commuters face parking problems.