Illegally parked vehicles on Gurgaon roads will be clamped and deflated

The Gurgaon police on Thursday identified several roads in the city that have turned into traffic bottlenecks because of rampant on-road parking.

The Gurgaon police on Thursday identified several roads in the city that have turned into traffic bottlenecks because of rampant on-road parking.

The traffic police deflated tyres of illegally parked vehicles on Sohna Road on Thursday. (Abhinav Saha/HT Photo)

To check the offence, the police on Thursday started to clamp and deflate tyres of illegally parked vehicles, along with a fine of `300.

They started the drive from Sohna Road, MG Road and Golf Course Road, among other major arterial stretches. On Thursday, the police fined over 150 commuters for parking on roads and deflated tyres of many illegally parked vehicles.

For this, the police have bought 50 clamps, which will be distributed to all police stations and traffic teams across the city. Currently, the police have only 100 clamps which were not in a good condition. They have been given to traffic teams deployed on MG Road only.

Officials said that one clamp costs about `1,600.

“The main benefit is that it requires less manpower. It is also more convenient for people. When a vehicle is towed away, owners will need to visit the nearby traffic circle station. However, in this case, they don’t need to run from pillar to post looking for their vehicles,” said Ved Prakash Godara, deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

The reason why the police have begun clamping illegally parked vehicles is because many vehicles owners had complained of damages caused by towing.

Car owners also end up arguing with the police. The major advantage of using clamps is that owners will not have to pay the towing charges.

Officials also said signboards in no-parking areas will be set up.

“Our aim is to spread awareness among residents and visitors about illegal parking as it obstructs the movement of other vehicles. We have started the drive in a few areas and it will be intensified in the days to come. We will soon identify more roads where traffic congestion is a major issue. Our teams will also visit Cyber City and Udyog Vihar on Friday,” said Godara.

Visitors park their cars along roads instead of parking lots — an offence that the Gurgaon traffic police have been finding tough to check.

“Parking charges in malls are high. We will soon meet all mall managements and ask them to reduce the charges. This will encourage visitors to park their vehicles in the parking lots. The attempt is to make optimum use of the limited road space,” Godara said.

There are many other traffic violations such as jumping traffic signals, speeding and wrong-lane driving, among others, that have been clogging Gurgaon’s road network.

The violations add to the basic problems of faulty road design and short-staffed traffic police.