Sdah, CBD, Bhowanipore lead parking violations

Kolkata: Around 30% of illegal parking in the city in the past 48 hours was primarily reported from three separate zones – the headquarter guard comprising the Dalhousie and Esplanade areas, the Sealdah guard where Koley Market and Narkeldanga emerged as the most challenging zones and Bhowanipore guard where double-lane parking, even among residents, emerged as a challenge.While 1,156 cases of illegal parking were reported city-wide on Thursday, 207 of them were from the Sealdah, 149 from CBD and 119 from Bhowanipore. On Friday, the headquarter guard reported as many as 68 parking violations by 4 pm.Senior officers at Lalbazar said they have asked all traffic OCs and ACs to ensure regular raids are conducted. Police, though, have been asked to be careful that no genuine resident is pulled up, especially if parking on road, instead of pavement, can create more traffic mess. However, all such owners have been asked to approach KMC and obtain permissions if garages are truly unavailable.At Lalbazar, the police held meetings with OCs and ACPs from the traffic wing before instructing them that no movement can be held up due to illegal parking "at any cost". The top cop reportedly wanted a list of all roads where two-way parking is allowed on the smaller stretches, a practice Lalbazar claimed needs to be stopped."We have decided to keep a 24-hour vigil using CCTV cameras. Multiple drives at the same spot — especially in central Kolkata like Free School Street, Camac Street and especially Dalhousie and Burrabazar where illegal parking has become major traffic hindrances — these drives will continue daily. Along with the KMC, we will mark the parking areas prominently so that violators know what they are doing is illegal," said an officer.In the added areas, cops have been asked to focus on illegal garages and illegal truck parking. "Several vehicles get parked even off EM Bypass and DH Road. These include buses. If they encroach upon road space, they have to be removed. All police stations and traffic guards have been asked to follow this rule," stated a joint commissioner.KMC said the focus will now be both on illegal parking and extortion associated with it. "We are identifying agencies indulging in malpractices. We will share their names with Kolkata Police. We will ask cops to take legal action against them. We will soon hold a meeting with cops to discuss these modalities," said a KMC official.