COIMBATORE: To counter the traffic snarls during the Deepavali rush, Coimbatore City Police and Corporation have come up with new parking arrangements and traffic patterns at Oppanakara Street and Cross Cut Road. Also, more than 3,000 police are deployed in the city to regulate the crowd.
A temporary parking facility has been set up near Oppanakara Street in Townhall and Crosscut Road in Gandhipuram, two places that usually have high footfall of shoppers during the Deepavali season.
According to the police, for the people coming from Pollachi Road, Palakkad Road and Trichy Road to Townhall and Oppanakara Street for purchasing, there has been a temporary vehicle parking set up under the Ukkadam Flyover (in front of the Ukkadam police station). Others who come from Perur Road, and Mettupalayam Road can use the corporation parking on Raja Street.
Similarly in Gandhipuram, a corporation school campus near North Coimbatore Flyover and the prison grounds on Dr Nanjappa Road is opened for vehicle parking. People visiting Cross Cut Road in Gandhipuram are asked to use these two places for parking vehicles.
Police have also requested the public to avoid using vehicles on the two stretches-- Oppanakara Street in Townhall and Cross Cut Road in Gandhipuram-- since those stretches witness heavy crowds. Instead, people can use the Vysial Street- Sullivan Street - Gandhipark route in Townhall and 100 Feet Road- powerhouse junction in Gandhipuram.
Speaking at an awareness session and a medical camp, conducted to mark the Ayurvedic Day at the Police Recruits School (PRS) on Saturday, the city police commissioner V Balakrishnan said more than 3,000 police personnel are deployed at Cross Cut Road, Oppanakara Street, Gandhipuram and other areas in view of the festival.
“We have installed AI cameras on the busy streets, where people visit for Deepavali shopping. We have installed around 110 advanced cameras in a 5 km stretch at the Big Bazaar Street and we are trying to increase the camera coverage further by five more kilometres as it would help the police to detect and prevent crimes,” said Balakrishnan. Also, the police have formed special teams in mufti to prevent untoward incidents at the busy stretches.