Watch where you park, says top cop

There are a many technicalities behind how the GHMC decides on marking an area as a parking spot

Have you ever wondered when you park your car in a busy area, how and when that particular parking space ever came about, or who has decided what stretch of the road is a no-parking zone when you want to park your vehicle?

Well, according to the traffic police, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) writes to them about an area that they feel needs parking space, and the traffic police conduct a survey. Upon finding it suitable to either make space for parking, or to install a no-parking board, the traffic police decide.

This is the just the gist of it. There is a lot more technicalities that go into it. A yearly survey is conducted by the traffic police who check vehicular movement in detail. If they feel making a parking lot does not obstruct traffic, or if the vehicular movement is too high and the stretch needs to be made a ‘no-parking’ zone, then the traffic police use their discretion accordingly. However, a mere annual survey of the City streets is not enough.

Hyderabad has as many as 175 parking lots, and a staggering 700 no-parking boards across the City. The traffic police say that they need another 1,000 no-parking boards to suffice. The lack of parking space has increased irregular parking, and towing of vehicles is on the rise. This isn’t new for a city that is rapidly growing.

The SR Nagar-Ameerpet-Srinagar Colony-Punjagutta-Somajiguda stretch and the SD Road-Paradise stretch are the areas where there are maximum parking offences. The traffic police say that motorists argue that on certain sections of the roads, there aren’t no-parking signs, and hence they can park their vehicle. To avoid conflict, they will now print the distance of the next parking spot.

According GO 423, 25 per cent of an area should be available for parking. This mostly applies to older areas of the City. After 2006, GO 86 was passed where 40 per cent of the area must be made available for parking.The upcoming areas fall in this category. However, none of these are followed. The town planning is such that there is maximum usage of space, without having any actual allotment for parking.

“Without giving adequate infrastructure for parking, there will be parking problems. If you can provide enough parking space, especially commercial establishments, it helps ease problems. The rules are going to get stricter as the vehicles are increasing. If shops can’t provide parking, they will be shut down. It is absolutely essential for them to do so, else they don’t have any future,” warned CV Anand, additional commissioner of police (traffic).On the other hand, denizens allege that the traffic police install no-parking boards at will, sometimes even overnight.

“We watch the flow of traffic and go by feedback of it. What we do is entirely in public interest. If we allow motorists to park their vehicles anywhere, there will be an obstruction to the flow. When we fine a vehicle, we don’t benefit by even a rupee. Everything goes into the treasury. People may park their vehicles irregularly, even near no-parking zones, to save five minutes. But if their vehicles are clamped or towed away, they will spend five hours retrieving their vehicles, apart from paying a fine,” pointed out Anand.

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