A commercial complex on Oppanakara Street in the city was recently sealed for violations including use of underground parking space as godown.
“Majority of the commercial buildings in the city lack parking space. It is the main reason why vehicles are parked on the roadsides,” says K. Kathirmathiyon of Coimbatore Consumer Cause.
Increase in the number of commercial establishments in the city has led to encroachment of roads in the form of vehicle parking and extension of shops in the erstwhile residential localities such as R.S. Puram and Ram Nagar. This eats up the motorable space and leads to traffic bottlenecks.
The problem is severe in busy areas of the city including Town Hall, Oppanakara Street, Variety Hall road, Poomarket, Gandhipuram, Ram Nagar, Saibaba Colony, R.S. Puram and Thadagam Road where the roads laid decades ago are narrow, despite the increase in vehicular population.
Though the police had tried towing and locking wheel with specially designed clamps to curb the menace, there is no respite.
The police also introduced one-side parking system on Cross Cut Road, D.B. Road and NSR Road to handle the issue.
However, R. Raveendran, honourable secretary of Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore, says enforcement of one-side parking was lacking in places where it was introduced.
“There is a proposal to introduce one-side parking on some more roads on an experimental basis to check the feasibility. If the effort yields results, the arrangement will be made permanent,” said a police official.
According to Mr. Kathirmathiyon, the District Collector has directed the authorities concerned to enforce building norms and take action to prevent such illegal parking in the recently held Road Safety Committee meeting.