Mumbai: Expressing concern over the traffic congestions, especially near the hospitals, in the city, the Bombay High Court asked the authorities to take steps to ensure there is no obstacle for citizens or the ambulance to reach the hospitals. The HC also suggested the government to consider making dedicated lanes for ambulances to ply.
A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Girish Kulkarni was also informed that soon an exclusive authority would be introduced, which would oversee the regulation of parking. The bench was seized with a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) highlighting traffic woes of the citizens.
During the course of the hearing, the judges noted that the vehicular congestion has come to a situation wherein even ambulances are not allowed to get off the traffic. “We have come to a situation wherein even ambulances are stuck in traffic jams for hours altogether. The situation near the Bombay hospital and also the Breach Candy hospital is worst. The access points are congested making it difficult for ambulances to enter,” Justice Kulkarni said. “We think the authorities must undertake steps to resolve such issues. We believe there must be dedicated lanes for the ambulances to ply,” Justice Kulkarni added.
Meanwhile, senior counsel Anil Sakhre appearing for the civic body told the judges that the draft Development Control Rules (DCR) has a proposed ‘parking authority’. He apprised the judges of this authority which would be exclusively function for the regulation of traffic.
“We appreciate the proposal of the concerned authorities. But we want to know what about the parking proof condition we had suggested earlier,” Justice Patil sought to know. To this, the advocate appearing for the Central government told the judges that the suggestion of imposing parking proof condition is being looked into.
Referring to the e-surveillance of traffic rules, Justice Patil said, “Just the way the you have installed cameras to ensure citizens follow the traffic rules, we think you can monitor the illegal parking by such a mechanism. This will help you to keep track on illegal parking and the concerned vehicle owner can be penalised with the help of footages.” The judges have accordingly directed the authorities to consider the suggestions and clarify their stand on the next hearing.