The eight-year-long fight by various residents’ associations and action committees in the city to enforce strict parking ban on goods lorries on Kozhikode South Beach has come to a successful conclusion.
The City police on Friday started enforcing the parking ban on one of the most misused stretches, between Hotel Sea Queen and the renovated South Beach park.
Police Chief’s visit
The ban came to effect after District Police Chief K. Sanjay Kumar Gurudin visited the spot, following a mass petition submitted by a group of residents’ associations from Kuttichira. Mr. Gurudin interacted with the local people who had been campaigning for a parking ban.
About 10,000 residents had signed the petition. It was the first of a series of protest actions planned by the residents’ forums and various action committees in the city.
“We are proud of being part of the campaign. The residents here had to suffer because of unlawful parking of lorries in the area,” said O. Mammudu, coordinator of Thekkeppuram Voice, a combine of various residents’ associations near South Beach. The illegal parking was also a cover for various anti-social activities in the area, he added.
‘More trouble’
Meanwhile, leaders of another action committee comprising people’s representatives and social activists alleged that the temporary parking ban introduced by the police was hardly a solution to the issue.
They claimed that the parking ban introduced by the police on Friday covered only a small stretch and the lorries were shifted to another stretch of the beach, causing more trouble. “We are planning to launch a day-and-night protest in front of the City Corporation office seeking a lasting solution to the issue. M.K. Muneer, MLA, will open the protest. We will be forced to launch a road blockade if the authorities do not respond properly to the protest,” said A.V. Anvar, leader of the action committee.