Parking ban eases traffic flow on Sitabuldi main road

NAGPUR: The traffic police on Wednesday began enforcing two-wheeler parking ban on Sitabuldi main road from Variety Square to Loha Pul road. The police focused on creating awareness on their motive and appealed to riders not to park vehicles. Riders too supported the cops and as a result the road witnessed less chaos.
On March 3, DCP (traffic) Chaitanya S had issued a notification declaring no parking of two-wheelers on both sides of Sitabuldi main road and earmarked a patch of Tekdi road for parking. Most two-wheeler drivers preferred not to park vehicles on this stretch. Senior PI Jayesh Bhandarkar told TOI the department intended to streamline the traffic and, hence, would continue the drive for a month. For a couple of days, the police will focus on creating awareness. “Then we will start penalizing the violators,” he said.

TOI visited the area and found the move helped in easing congestion to a great extent in an otherwise chaotic Sitabuldi Road. Even hawkers kept themselves restricted to escape police action.

Traffic cops were using mobile public address system to regulate vehicular movement since morning. Many cops were seen guiding drivers to park two-wheelers at the designated slot on Tekdi road. However, the patch designated for two-wheeler parking was occupied by cars. So, two-wheeler riders parked their vehicles on internal lanes and that caused jams.

Cops said they expect motorists to obey rules. As we have limited number of traffic cops, ensuring no parking on these stretches is not possible, they said.

Armed with three towing vans, four police sub-inspectors with body-worn cameras and their staff continued patrolling since 9am.

Besides, the police also placed signs to educate motorists about no parking and parking places in the vicinity. The DCP too visited the road in the morning to monitor the new move.