MUMBAI: Odd-even parking will be introduced on a pilot basis in one of the city’s most congested localities—the
Crawford Market and Kalbadevi precincts, Mumbai traffic police informed the
Bombay high court on Wednesday.
A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Girish Kulkarni gave its go-ahead for implementing the measure on 15 main roads in the locality. The scheme will reserve parking on one side of the road on even dates and on the other side on odd dates. Plans to decongest the area also include bus lanes, new road signage, taxi parking spots and bays for handcarts and loading/unloading goods. The court was hearing a public interest litigation about traffic congestion in the Kalbadevi neghbourhood, a shopping area comprising Crawford Market, Chira Bazaar and Princess Street.
The bench asked traffic police to work with ward officers and police to enforce the plan. “Double parking should be stopped. Involve ward officers and make them accountable. There would be a greater chance for the plan to succeed,” said the judges.
Government pleader Poornima Kantharia placed a note by Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic), which detailed the problems and the solutions. According to the note, the issues plaguing the neigbourhood are the same—parking on both sides of the road, haphazard parking of handcarts, loading and unloading of goods, taxis picking up and dropping passengers, encroachment of roads and footpaths and misuse of taxi stands.
“With a view to facilitating uninterrupted business activities and smooth movement of traffic in the area, it was decided to provide odd-even parking on one side of all roads of the Kalbadevi area,” the note said.
Traffic police will allot designated parking areas marked with paint and road studs, install signs, demarcate loading areas, designate stretches for taxi pickup and drop, “bus-only” lanes and eviction of hawkers. Dr P Vedagiri from IIT-Bombay, who has joined a special traffic committee, will submit a circulation plan applying traffic model algorithms, the note added.
Illustration for representational purpose