Squatters, random parking back to haunt Gole Market

LUCKNOW: Encroachments and haphazard parking in Gole Market area have become persistent banes for commuters as well as administration. Just a week after the area was cleared, both irregular parking of private and public transport vehicles and encroachment by vendors are back in the area, giving commuters a tough time.

On November 22, district magistrate Kaushal Raj Sharma and SSP Kalanidhi Naithani had supervised an anti-encroachment drive in Gole Market and removed a large number of squatters. Since the traffic coming down the Nishatganj flyover faced bottlenecks on the roundabout, SSP had directed traffic cops to stop irregular parking outside shops.


However, when TOI visited the area on Friday evening, a week after the action by DM and SSP, irregular parking and encroachments were back, and so were traffic snarls.

Since Gole Market is a common transit point for people going towards Indiranagar, Nishatganj, Aliganj and Gomtinagar, the area witnesses traffic congestion in peak hours on a daily basis due to irregular parking and encroachment.

Vehicles were parked haphazardly on the road, posing inconvenience to commuters.

Commuters said that street parking was the major reason for traffic snarls.

“The auto-rickshaws and tempos also cause massive traffic congestion during peak hours. In order to get more passengers, the drivers block road and stop vehicle anywhere to pick up passengers, posing threat to commuters,” said Mamta Raizada, a shopper.

Aditya Tiwari, a shopkeeper, said, “Police came a few days ago and removed encroachments and irregular parked vehicles. Unke jate hi phir sab pehle jaisa ho gaya. Encroachment to phir bhi tora kam hua hai lekin parking abhi bhi vaise hi hai,” he added.

In the absence of any checks, shopkeepers have also extended their shops, leaving no space for pedestrians.

Locals and commuters, however, pinned the blame for the mess on police and local administration, accusing them of not taking stern action against violators and not following up.

“Traffic police have failed to take any initiative for curbing traffic congestion,” said Shobhit Saxena, a commuter.

When TOI asked SSP Kalanidhi Naithani about irregular parking and encroachment in Gole market troubling commuters again, he said that police is soon starting a drive to put check on irregular parking in the city. “I visited Gole Market today also and directed traffic police to remove all irregular parking. I’ll issue a letter to every SP to support the drive in their respective areas,” the SSP added.