Illegally parked vehicles choke road in Jamshedpur’s Sakchi

JAMSHEDPUR: With daytime temperature hovering around 41 degrees Celsius, commuters had a harrowing time crossing the stretch connecting Sitala mandir to Patta Market in Sakchi because of the traffic congestion caused by illegally parked vehicles on the side of the road. “Such traffic snarls are a regular affair on the stretch from 10am to 8pm,” said Hari Shau, a businessman who regularly visits this area.

The stretch usually takes 10 minutes to cross, but during this hour, it taken almost an hour, Shau added.

As Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) does not collect parking fees for this area, motorists park their vehicles on the side which eat into the space of the road thus slowing down traffic movement.

Though heavy vehicles are banned on this stretch, many a times, trucks also enter the road adding to the problem. "It is a nightmare to cross this zone as traffic crawls," Satarupa Mukherjee, a daily commuter, said.

Often trucks carrying goods are parked on the road to unload consignments for the shops. Halim, who has a watch repairing shop in the area, said that many people avoid visiting shops in the area because of the traffic jams. No traffic police are posted in the area and no towing of vehicles is done by the administration, as a result of which the situation is getting worse, he added.

Illegal fruit shops set up beside the busy road here also add to the problems. “The administration last year evicted a large number of illegal shops near Patta market. Following this, towing of illegally parked vehicles was started, but it fizzled out gradually,” said Sonu Razak, who owns a shop in the area. The administration should regularly impound illegally parked vehicles from the roads, he added.

JNAC special officer Sanjay Kumar said that the administration has sent notices to 46 building owners who have converted the parking lots of the building basement area into commercial zones. They have been given a week's time to remove the illegal structures, otherwise JNAC would discard them, adding that the cost would have to be borne by the owners.

He said JNAC is constantly trying to remove illegal parking and encroachments in the city to ensure that residents can move freely on roads. Kumar sought cooperation from motorists too, saying that they should make it a habit to park vehicles at designated parking lots.


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