Drive against illegal parking in Noida begins

During peak hours the traffic situation here goes from bad to worse, causing long traffic snarls on various roads across the city.

The Noida authority has started a drive against illegal parking lots in residential, commercial and industrial areas, aiming to reduce traffic congestion and ensure smooth traffic flow on roads.

Noida authority begins crackdown against illegal parking. (Sunil Ghosh)

Officials said the action will be taken against illegal parking lots run by some parking mafia and also the additional space occupied by some of the authorised contractors beyond the permissible area, causing traffic congestion.

The drive has been started after complaints made by the residents and shopkeepers. During peak hours the traffic situation here goes from bad to worse, causing long traffic snarls on various roads across the city.

“We have launched a crackdown against the illegal parking of vehicles on roads from Film City in sector 16A, where driving on roads is a nightmare. Due to illegal parking on roads in Film City, wide roads narrow down. We towed away around 16 vehicles parked illegally on the roads in sector 16A. These vehicles were causing hindrance in smooth flow of traffic. Now our drive will continue daily,” said Rakesh Kumar Mishra, additional chief executive officer of the Noida authority.

Mishra started the crackdown against illegal parking and reached the spot when some vehicles owners objected to towing away of vehicles.

The Noida authority had allowed parking at around 40 sites. The authority has given licenses to private agencies that charge Rs 20 as fee for eight hours and ensure parking within the area earmarked for them by the authority.

“However, it does not happen. Most of the parking contractors use more space than allotted to them for parking on road. Using the area which is not allotted for parking on roadsides cause traffic jam. Our aim is that there should be no traffic jam due to illegal parking,” said Mishra.

City’s commercial hub Sector 18, sector 62, 51, 41, sector 27, sector 16, Naya Bans village, Harola and sector 12 among others are areas, where even pedestrians cannot find space to walk through during peak hours in morning and evening due to parking of vehicles on the roads.

“The Noida authority carved out markets in many sectors. But it did not plan for adequate parking space at these markets at the time of planning. And now when the city population is growing at high speed and the number of vehicles is also increasing. It should ensure roads are free from parking,” said Atul Gupta, an urban town planner.