BHUBANESWAR: As if traffic snarls of Bhubaneswar were not enough, the call cabs have compounded the problem for commuters with mindless parking along major thoroughfares of the City.Take the stretch from Station Square to Bhubaneswar Railway Station. The newly constructed road has been completely taken over by cab drivers and other private vehicles who stop and park at will worsening congestion on the main road.However, neither the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) which leases out parking lots nor Commissionerate Traffic is bothered.
Despite the fact that parking at unregulated zones could result in penalties or one’s car being towed, the cabs are not bothered. Such haphazard parking has raised serious questions about designated parking places along with strict enforcing parking laws.There are about 2000 Ola and 1500 Uber cabs operating in the Capital and the drivers of these call cabs park their vehicles near the busy Station Square, Satya Nagar, Saheed Nagar, Jaydev Vihar and Patia during peak traffic hours, morning and late evening hours. The narrow roads in theses places are taken over by the private vehicles resulting in space crunch for the regular traffic to move.
While the entire stretch from Vani Vihar to Sishu Bhawan Square is dedicated to private vehicle parking by BMC on both sides, the call cabs have now found vacant spaces and parking without any fear of penalty. The Regional Transport Office (RTO) officials say they issue permits for taxis but have no clue about how many vehicles are attached with online transportation companies. “We issue permits to taxis but have no information on number of call cabs,” RTO-II in-charge Sanjay Behera said.
According to RTO-II officials, around 371 new taxis were registered in 2017, 561 in 2016 and 408 were registered in 2015. “We do not carry enforcement activities against illegal parking. We only give permits to the vehicles, including the call cabs,” Behera said.Commissionerate Traffic police is happy passing the buck instead of cracking down against violators. Fines are imposed for illegal parking in the City, a police officer said adding, since there is shortage of parking space, the car drivers or owners are left with no option but park their vehicles by road sides. “The civic authorities should construct adequate parking lots or seal the establishments which do not have parking places as these lead to parking of vehicles on the roads,” a policeman said requesting anonymity.
“We are imposing fines for illegal parking in the City. A fine of `500 is being imposed under Odisha Urban Police (OUP) Act for illegal parking,” Traffic ACP Jatindra Panda said. He, however, has no answer why call cabs which choke the roads are not brought to book.The BMC said it will launch a joint drive with the police to check illegal parking menace. “The civic body and police will launch a joint drive soon. We will also jointly identify new places for constructing parking lots,” BMC Deputy Commissioner Srimanta Mishra said. The corporation is hopeful that once multi-level car park are constructed, the traffic snarls will ease.