Illegal parking stifles traffic flow

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Bhubaneswar: Despite Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s best efforts to check traffic congestions, rampant road-side parking, and lack of parking spaces near residential buildings and market complexes continue unabated in the city.
Areas around Sahid Nagar, Nayapalli, Janpath and Vidyuth Marg are witnessing major gridlocks during peak hours as motorcycles and four-wheelers are blatantly flouting norms and parking vehicles in ‘No Parking’ zones.
Pradeep Jena, a shop owner at Sahid Nagar, says, “I usually park my car on the road because it takes a lot of time to find a proper parking space nearby. The authorities must ensure enough parking facilities around the city.”
Regarding adequate parking spaces, Dileep Panda, who runs a city-based NGO for road safety, said, “Many urban cities of Australia, Canada and United States have an oversupply of parking spaces. Abundant parking space is not the solution.”
Panda’s opinion can be substantiated with the fact that the BMC, at present, is operating about 52 on and off parking spots and has proposed to set up another 60 of these soon. Despite this, pedestrian space is largely occupied by illegally parked cars resulting in traffic snarls on arterial roads throughout the day.
However, a report by the Bhubaneswar Smart City Limited (BSCL) in 2017 suggested that a vehicle population of about one lakh excluding two-wheelers was registered in 2017. These numbers were expected to double in next two years.
“Stricter enforcement and better management with proper planning is the key,” advises Panda. “Like developed countries, people should take care to avoid hefty fine if they leave their vehicles at improper parking places,” he added.
A BSCL officials stated that construction of two multi-level car parking (MLCP) facilities at Sahid Nagar and Unit II is in progress and they will start functioning by January next year. “The MLCPs will accommodate about 250 cars and will help clear traffic congestions in these areas,” he added.