Vehicles parked between Uppilipalayam signal and the beginning of Avinashi Road flyover and vehicles lined up in front of the combined court complex near the roundabout at Red Cross office are not lone examples of how illegal parking is affecting traffic flow in the city.
According to traffic police personnel, parking of vehicles in no-parking zones is becoming a growing concern as they are affecting big and small roads in the city.
Ukkadam, Town Hall, Oppanakara Street, Variety Hall road, Poomarket, Gandhipuram, 100 Feet Road, Cross Cut Road, Ram Nagar, Saibaba Colony, D.B. Road and Thadagam Road are among places that witness illegal parking more while parts of Avinashi Road such as Peelamedu and Hope College also suffer from the problem.
The police say that illegal parking has multiple impact on road safety including shrinking of motorable space on the road, blocking pedestrian walkways at some places and also cause for accidents.
They add that workshops and a few agencies selling two-wheelers and cars were also occupying motorable road space of some of the city roads on a regular basis despite fines imposed.
The menace created by illegal parking was discussed at a recent meeting of District Road Safety Committee wherein District Collector and other members proposed to the police to take strong action against violators.
Senior officials with the traffic police said that City Police Commissioner (CoP) Sumit Sharan has instructed the police to conduct special drives to crack down on illegal parking and slap fine on violators.
On February 27 alone, the police slapped fine on 485 persons for parking vehicles in no-parking zones.
During special drives, the police will lock vehicles that are found parked in no-parking zones with chains and wheel clamps.
According to Deputy Commissioner of Police R. Mutharasu, the police conducted various awareness activities to educate motorists to avoid illegal parking before staring the special drive.
Raj Khanna, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Traffic West, said that the police will also tow and remove vehicles that are found parked illegally, causing traffic obstruction.
Mr. Sharan said that the drive will continue apart from similar crack down done on LED headlights and pressure horns.
People like K. Kathirmathiyon, consumer activist and member of the District Road Safety Committee, feel that the city is facing a growing dearth of parking space, the main reason why vehicles are parked in no-parking zones.
“Local Planning Authority and the Corporation should also take action against shops and establishments that do not have parking space due to which customers park vehicles on roads. Though parking space is a must for commercial buildings, they only remain in the plan and design to get necessary approvals in most cases,” he said.
Meanwhile, the police have also plans to introduce one-side parking system on more roads to tackle illegal parking and dearth of parking space at busy places.
Under this, vehicles will be allowed to park only on one side of the road for a month and the parking will be shifted to the other side of the road in the next month. One-side parking was introduced on Cross Cut Road, D.B. Road and a part of NSR Road.