Nagpur: The city traffic police, after the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court on Friday disposed of a writ petition filed by the Sitabuldi Merchants’ Association against police banning parking on the Sitabuldi Main Road for a month, on Saturday decided to get approval of the government-formed committee for allowing no-parking on the Sitabuldi road. The traffic police, under the chairmanship of chief secretary, will soon approach the committee as directed by the high court.
The one-month ban, however, ended on Friday.
The committee was formed by the state government after a writ petition filed in the high court for identifying traffic and parking problems in the city and its surrounding areas. It was also aimed at seeking suggestions and effective measures for curbing the parking problems on long-time and short-term basis.
The committee consists of 11 members, including principal secretary urban development, state transport secretary, director town planning, Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation vice-chairman and managing director, municipal commissioner.
The traffic police will also seek permission from the committee to continue no-parking rules for both Dharampeth and Dhantoli areas along with the Sitabuldi main road.
The traffic police banned parking of two wheelers on Sitabuldi main road (Mahatma Gandhi Road) between Variety square and Loha Pul square from March 7. As an alternative, parking was permitted on Tekdi road between Manas square and Morris College T-point.
The Sitabuldi Merchants’ Association challenged the traffic police’s decision under sections 115, 116 and 117 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
Senior PI (traffic Zone-II) Jayesh Bhandarkar said the traffic police will now approach the government-formed committee to convene a meeting early next week for its nod to implement parking regulation in Sitabuldi along with its one-month trial report.
During the one-month experimental basis, the traffic police penalized 1,201 two-wheeler riders for violating no-parking notification on Sitabuldi main road.
Bhandarkar said the traffic police will also submit proposals to continue the no-parking and one-way directions of both Dhantoli and Dharampeth areas before the committee.
The traffic police’s move to impose parking ban and declaring many internal lanes one-way in Dhantoli area in June last year eased the traffic congestion. In the past, the internal lanes had been in news for frequent jams due to haphazard parking especially outside many private hospitals. Residents of the locality too had extended their support to the traffic police.
After success of Dhantoli pattern, the traffic police in August last year banned parking of four-wheelers on 2.4km patch of West High Court Road from Law College Square to Shankar Nagar Square.
The move was initiated after vehicular traffic on this particular patch deteriorated due to haphazard commercialization and parking norms violations. Most of the commercial building on WHC Road lack parking space and shoppers, mostly came here with four-wheelers, used to park their vehicles on road itself. As a result, traffic jams on this particular patch had been frequent.
No-Parking Areas—-No. of cases
Dharampeth—-7040
Dhantoli—-7251
Sitabuldi—-1201
