Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police’s recent order prohibiting parking of vehicles along 21 major stretches in Bhubaneswar despite the lack of adequate parking lots has raised eyebrows among the motorists.
Two days after the Twin City police issued the order, even corporators expressed displeasure saying it would cause parking woes in absence of alternatives and add to chaos. Sources said many of the corporators approached the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to take up the matter with the Commissionerate Police.
Many pointed out that the order should have provided information about available parking lots and multi-level car parking facilities along these stretches where parking has been banned. “If we need 2 go car-free; can we have last mile connectivity 4 Public transport/Mo Bus,” said Devasis Sarangi on X.
Others demanded that encroachments along the same stretches be removed first and designated parking places set up. In fact, along most of these stretches, the pedestrian walks and even cycle tracks have been gobbled up by encroachments by shops, vendors and illegal parking but the authorities have rarely reacted.
Besides, many major commercial establishments dotting these stretches in the city do not have their in-situ parking which is mandated by the BDA (Planning and Building Standards) Regulations, 2018. A casual glance at major jewellery stores along Janpath vouches for that.
Currently, the BMC has 80 parking places in the city. While 35 are located on government land, the remaining is institutional parking.
While illegal parking along long stretches of major roads has emerged as a menace, plans to set up four new multi-level car parking facilities at Janata Maidan, Kharavela Nagar behind Ram Mandir, Kalpana Square and in Nayapalli near Indradhanu Market have also not made any progress on the ground.
Sources in the BMC said although it was Commissionerate Police’s prerogative to impose parking restrictions at public places, the civic body could have been consulted before the order was issued which could have led to a smoother implementation of the plan.
Interestingly, two days after the order was issued, the Capital City witnessed the usual scenes of parking by the roadside. BMC commissioner Chanchal Rana said he has received grievances from various quarters regarding the order and will hold discussions with the police in this regard.
The city decongestion plan is underway and issues including traffic are being looked into. “As part of the initiative, action will be initiated against commercial establishments which have not created parking space in violation of plan approval prescribed under Odisha Development Authorities (Planning and Building Standards) Amendment Rules,” said Rana.
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