20% of vehicles towed away from Lucknow’s no-parking zones were of ‘VIPs’, say police
Of the 1,658 vehicles towed away in a month, 310 were of ‘VIPs’, says joint commissioner of police (law & order); seven more no-parking zones added to the already existing 11 in the city
LUCKNOW Nearly 20% of the vehicles towed away from the city’s 11 no- parking zones during the last one month belonged to ‘VIPs’, said police on Friday.
“Of the 1,658 vehicles towed away, 310 were so-called VIP vehicles,” said Upendra Kumar Agarwal, joint commissioner of police (law & order).
On July 24, the Lucknow Police Commissionerate had declared 11 locations as no-parking zones. As per the directive, vehicles found parked in these zones were to be towed away and released only after payment of fine. The traffic police’s drive against unauthorized parking completed one month on Thursday.
Wrongly parked four-wheelers were imposed a fine of ₹1,100, three-wheelers ₹800 and two-wheelers ₹700.
“During the drive, nearly 20% of the violators were ‘VIP vehicles’,” said JCP.
Four-wheelers accounted for the maximum among the vehicles towed away…1,595 of the 1,658 vehicles were four-wheelers, compared to five three-wheelers and 58 two-wheelers, as per police data.
Out of the 310 ‘VIP vehicles’ seized during the tow-away drive, the highest - 32% were found to belong to UP government officials, while 21% belonged to police/army personnel and 20% belonged to judiciary officials.
“Out of the 310, 102 belonged to UP Government, 68 to police/army, 61 to judiciary, 38 to parties/politicians, 22 to doctors and 19 to journalists,” the data said.
18 NO-PARKING ZONES NOW
With the success of the tow-away drive, the police on Friday added seven more no-parking zones to the already existing 11 in the city.
Four zones of Patrakarpuram, up to 100 metres of Awadh crossing and Polytechnic crossing, and the Tedhipulia (Alambagh)-Piccadilly crossing stretch were added to the no-parking zones list. “Now, we have 18 such zones in the city,” said the JCP.
“These zones have been selected on the basis of whatsapp suggestions from the general public,” he added.
“No auto-rickshaw/e-rickshaw will be allowed to halt within 100 metres of the crossings. Red and yellow marks will demarcate the parking area. Vehicles will be towed away if found within 100m of the crossings,” said the JCP, adding that action will be taken under Section 127 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
