The Delhi High Court was informed on Tuesday that over 18,000 spot fines (challans) were issued for illegal parking in 14 congested markets of the city in the last 38 days.

A bench of Justice GS Sistani and Justice Jyoti Singh was told that 18,140 spot fines were issued for unauthorised parking, and 6,864 for offences captured on camera between November 29, 2018, and January 6, 2019.

Fines of offences that are captured on CCTV cameras or are clicked by traffic constables at intersections are sent to the errant drivers via post on their registered address.

The data was presented before the court that is hearing a bunch of pleas in connection with problems that arise out of vehicles being parked in three out of four lanes on the roads in Karol Bagh, leaving only a single lane for pedestrians and vehicles.

In a status report filed in the court, the Delhi traffic police said that 5,975 vehicles were towed away from the markets, namely Karol Bagh, Lajpat Nagar, Chandni Chowk and Sarojini Nagar, among others. It added that 5,150 challans were pasted on vehicles parked illegally in these markets.

Karol Bagh topped the list of areas where vehicle owners were prosecuted for obstructive parking with 4,511 spot fines and 1,406 vehicles were towed away for the offence.

The court was informed that modified timings for loading and off-loading of materials from vehicles has been implemented in the 14 markets.

The police told the court that a meeting was convened by the Special Commissioner of Police, traffic, on December 28 to review the action taken on the loading and unloading of goods. The meeting was attended by officers of all the three municipal bodies, transport department, local police and traffic police. At the meeting, it was decided that stringent action should be taken through special joint drives in co-ordination with the local police and authorities to enforce modified timings for loading and unloading of goods.

On October 29, the court had prohibited loading or unloading of goods during the day in Karol Bagh. On November 14, the court modified its order and stated that the activity could be allowed between 11am and 12.30PM. However, the timings were again modified after traders and shopkeepers informed the court that they were facing hardship because of the ruling.

The matter would be now heard on January 22.

First Published: Jan 09, 2019 13:15 IST