Illegal truck parking on Chandivali Farm Road irks residents

Around 130 residents of Shapoorji Pallonji Vicinia have written a letter to the joint commissioner of police (traffic) requesting action on heavy vehicles parked illegally on the Chandivali Farm Road

Mumbai: Around 130 residents of Shapoorji Pallonji Vicinia have written a letter to the joint commissioner of police (traffic) requesting action on heavy vehicles parked illegally on the Chandivali Farm Road.

Mumbai, India - July, 31, 2023: illegal tracks parking at Chandivali , in Mumbai, in Mumbai, India, on,Monday, July, 31, 2023. ( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo ) (( Praful Gangurde / HT Photo)

Residents in the letter sent via email said, “Due to trucks/buses being parked on the main road, pedestrians are forced to step into the main street, exposing them to oncoming traffic and increasing the risk of collisions...there have been multiple instances where pedestrians narrowly escaped a brush with passing vehicles. It is distressing to imagine the consequences of a collision involving innocent pedestrians and drivers due to the lack of enforcement and action.”

The Chandivali Farm Road connects the area to Saki Vihar and further to Andheri on one side and JVLR Via DP road 9 on the other side.

“In June, when chief minister Eknath Shinde visited the area for an event, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and traffic police ensured hawkers, footpath encroachers, garbage and trucks were removed, and the area was beautified. And the situation was back to square one the very next day. It is the people who elect politicians and make them VIPs,” Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder member, Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA), said.

“This discrimination needs to end, and the area should be maintained in the same way as it was beautified for the CM,” Makkar said, adding, “When it comes to parking on the road, the traffic police are so alert on the Nahar Amrit Shakti Road that they challan a private car even it is parked for a minute. We want the traffic police to take strict action.”

Bijal Shah, a local and an IT professional, said, “The parking started with a few trucks, but it has turned into a nightmare in the last one year. The footpaths are used by drivers to urinate and wash clothes etc., making it unusable. Trucks parked on both sides reduce the road width by half.”

Payal Raje, a chartered accountant and a resident said though the Chandivali Farm Road is a two-lane road, they are forced to walk in the middle of the road owing to parked trucks on both sides. “The footpath is covered by the trucks that are parked in a line. People also urinate on the footpath behind these trucks. The drivers and helpers sit on the footpath, drink, gamble and also harass walkers. One cannot dare to walk on the footpaths.”

Pravin Padwal, joint commissioner of police (traffic), said, “I have not received the letter yet. But action will be taken in this matter. We will take appropriate measures.”