CHENNAI: Residents of Perambur have decided to form a committee that will look into parking violations in streets. Residents of Thiruvengadam Street, School road, Ananda Vadivelu street, and Paper Mills Road among others have been complaining to officials about haphazard parking, which not just causes traffic congestions but blocks the entire road not allowing even emergency vehicles to pass.
“We have decided to form a team and check parking violations. We will submit the data to the city traffic police,” said Raghukumar Choodamnai, a resident activist. “The government must formulate a plan to implement on-street parking charges within the city. It needs to be higher than private parking charges to ensure that owners arrange for parking facilities before buying a car,” he said.
“By enforcing one-side parking in streets, police can ensure that roads are free from obstructions. Parking on footpaths needs to be banned and penalised,” he added. Apart from residents, customers who visit eateries and restaurants in the area use the lanes for parking. “Authorities must create a street-wise parking plan based on the road width and space availability. We residents will help with the implementation,” said Govardhanan Ethirajulu, resident of Perambur.
The residents are planning to patrol the streets every Sunday. “We plan to look into all civic issues in the area. If this goes well, we will add more groups,” said Ethirajulu.
About 150 members of the Perambur neighbourhood development forum and community welfare brigade will be part of this initiative.