13 fines, 17 warnings for illegal parking along S Kol dhaba road

Kolkata: In its late night crackdown on Saturday, cops from Bhowanipore traffic guard swooped down on at least 30 motorists who had parked their cars illegally on Harish Mukherjee Road after 10 pm. While the cops prosecuted 13 motorists for resorting to illegal parking on the wrong side of the road opposite an eatery, 17 others removed their vehicles after getting a warning from the police. TOI has reported on Sunday about the crackdown on illegal parking at night. A senior police officer told TOI: "We are taking action against the motorists found to park their cars on the wrong side of the road. We will continue with our drive against unruly parking in the area." Anil Sharma, a local resident, said, "We are glad that cops have swung into action to drive away double-lane and triple-lane parking in this area. Traffic chaos due to unruly parking has been a perennial problem here. I request cops to keep watch on the parking zone so that the problem does not recur." Echoing Sharma, several motorists who use the Harish Mukherjee Road and faced challenges till Friday night, also urged cops to keep tabs on the situation regularly. Lake Gardens resident Sudipto Chatterjee was in for a surprise while crossing the area around 11.10 pm on Saturday. "The traffic snarls start usually near an eatery after crossing Sambhu Nath Pandit Street. Last night, Harish Mukherjee Road was empty as cops removed the illegally parked vehicles. This drive needs to be a regular exercise for public convenience," Chatterjee said. Raktim Mondal, a Baishnabghata resident, said, "Getting stuck in the bottleneck created by double-lane and wrong-side parking on Harish Mukherjee Road has become a nightmare for me. It is good that cops have started penalizing the errant motorists who have been flouting traffic rules blatantly. However, cops ought to keep up the drive against illegal parking." Sudeshna Roy, a Santoshpur resident, pointed that the road which has the state's largest medical facility in its vicinity should always be kpet encroachment-free for emergencies. "While taking Harish Mukherjee Road I have seen ambulances caught up in traffic congestion because of illegal parking that narrows down space for movement. Last night I found a change but it should last for long," she said.