Gurgaon: Residents irked with illegal parking on Sohna Road service lane

Residents say visitors to nearby shops park their vehicles on the service lane of Sonha Road in a manner as to block passage of commuters

Hundreds of residents commuting on the service lane of Sohna Road are having a tough time navigating, with vehicles parked illegally blocking passage. The vehicles impeding commuters include both two-wheelers and four-wheelers.

Though the civic authorities recently claimed to have removed all encroachments on the busy stretch, illegal parking continues to be a headache for commuters and residents. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

Commuters said shopkeepers and visitors randomly park their vehicles on the lane, leading to traffic congestion.

Though the civic authorities recently claimed to have removed all encroachments on the busy stretch, illegal parking continues to be a headache for commuters and residents.

The stretch between Subhas Chowk and Vatika Crossing remains choked with traffic, especially during peak commuting hours. Commuters said though the traffic police and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) officials are often seen towing away vehicles encroaching the space and even write tickets to violators, it clearly hasn’t had the desired effect.

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“It gets difficult to move the car from the service lane during peak hours. Those visiting the shops nearby park their cars in such a manner that it is a challenge for commuters ton find smooth passage,” Vidhya Singh, a regular commuter on the lane, said.

Most commuters take the service lane in a bid to avoid heavy traffic on the Sohna Road.

“The visitors have taken over the service lane and vendors set their chairs out encroaching on the lane and blocking passage for commuters. People visiting the shops leave no space for commuters and unauthorised parking leads to congestion on daily basis,” Archana Gupta, a resident of Central Park-2, said.

The commuters alleged that the authorities are not doing anything to check this menace.

“The situation is visible to all the authorities and has been causing inconvenience to thousands of commuters and residents”, said Nirlept Singh, president, RWA, Uniworld Gardens-1.

Adding to the chaos is wrong side driving, said another commuter.

The traffic officers said they are regularly conducting drives to unclog the stretch. “We have been writing tickets for wrong side parking and will ensure all encroachments are removed at the earliest,” DCP(Traffic), Balbir Singh, said.