Shastri Road in Ramnagar is perhaps one among the very few roads in the city where public space is used for business. Right from the point where the Road curves west, a little east of Suburban School, to the Patel Road Junction, two-wheelers eat away most of road margins and four-wheelers occupy whatever space is left.
Unlike other roads in the city where finding a parking space depends on luck and varies with time during business hours, Shastri Road margins are the same throughout the day, thanks to it being a hub for automobile consultants.
Between the Rajaji Road Junction on the east and Patel Road Junction on the west, the Shastri Road is home to around 30 automobile consultants, who buy and sell used two-wheelers. From big and old consultants, a few of whom operate from office space of over 200 sq.ft. to small to less than 100 sq.ft., the 30-plus consultants park on road the vehicles in their possession.
The consultants occupy the road margins from 9 a.m. to around 7.30 p.m., right from the start of business hours to close by parking their vehicles one after the other, leaving very little room for the city's residents who go there to shop or have food.
“Shastri Road is always congested on weekdays and more so between 9.30 a.m. and 7.30 p.m. when the carriage way is reduced because of auto consultants using road space to further their business,” says S. Natarajan, a resident of Kalidas Street, Ramnagar.
Two years ago, the Ramnagar residents took up the issue with the district administration and the Coimbatore City Traffic Police.
The result was that for a few weeks the consultants had their vehicles parked outside the carriageway as the traffic policemen frequented the road.
But within a few months, things were back to ‘normal’, he recalls.
The Shastri Road, though narrow compared to arterial roads in the city, remains an important thoroughfare because, between the Uppilipalayam and North Coimbatore flyovers, it connects Gandhipuram and R.S. Puram.
The road sees heavy vehicle movement also because it helps road users avoid traffic signals while moving between the two aforementioned localities, says B. Govindarajulu, Joint Secretary, Ramnagar Residents Welfare Association.
“The consultants parking on road the vehicles meant for sale inconveniences pedestrians the most, for they are forced to walk well into the carriageway,” he points out.
The auto consultants, however, deny that they are doing business by encroaching upon the road space. P. Sivakumar of Sri Kumaran Auto Consultant and Deepak Shakti M. of Sree Selvanayaki Auto Consultant say that the consultants on Shastri Road park their vehicles well within the white line that the Corporation has painted on the road margins.
“It is not we the consultants who obstruct vehicle movement but customers to restaurants and other commercial establishments who park in a haphazard manner,” they allege.
Consumer activist K. Kathirmathiyon says customers visiting shops or restaurants on Shastri Road will not use the parking space right throughout the day. And, their parking there is not misuse of road space for commercial purpose, something which the consultants do.
The consultants parking the vehicles on sale on the road margins forces their customers to park right behind the first row of vehicles, leading to more encroachment of carriageway, he says and calls for stringent action from both the Traffic Police and Corporation.
Mr. Sivakumar counters saying if they were to leave no space for customers' vehicles, then they will lose business. “The consultants park their vehicles in such a way that customers have adequate parking space.”
Sources in the Coimbatore City Traffic Police admit that the stretch of Shastri Road between Rajaji Road and Patel Road junctions is very congested and add that they will do all to ensure free flow of vehicles.
The police should also consider regulating parking by allowing only one side of the road to be used for parking a month, the residents demand.
Resident Mr. Natarajan says that the area residents, who are in Ward 54 of the corporation, have come together to work with the Police and Corporation to resolve various long-standing issues and the congestion on Shastri Road is one such.
If the police and corporation are serious about removing encroachments on Shastri Road, they should also shift to road margins the trees that are well into the carriageway.
And, if they do not, the Revenue Divisional Officer, Coimbatore, in his or her capacity as the Sub-Divisional Magistrate must invoke Section 133 of the Code of Criminal Procedure to remove unlawful obstruction from public place, Mr. Kathirmathiyon demands.