What Part of ‘NO PARKING’ Sign Motorists Don’t Understand? Cops Slap Rs 1000 Fine on Violators

What Part of ‘NO PARKING’ Sign Motorists Don’t Understand? Cops Slap Rs 1000 Fine on Violators

Mangaluru: The next time you park your vehicle at an undesignated place, be ready to shell out more. There are many situations where it will be desirable to have drivers and riders of motor vehicles not park or stand in specific areas, even if it only pertains to certain times of the day or specific days of the week. The reasons for these restrictions can be extremely diverse, ranging from safety issues to problems with access which are caused by parked vehicles. In any case, it is the responsibility of the person or agency which desires to prohibit parking, to have such signage installed and maintained so that it can be clearly visible and thus complied with.

When these signs are ignored and motorists park in the prohibited areas anyway, that becomes a matter for local authorities to manage, and it may be necessary to issue some kind of penalty, as it would be for failure to comply with any other legal traffic sign. People often park their vehicles haphazardly, especially when their visit to a place is expected to be short. But these short visits cause major problems for other motorists. Only heavy penalties deter such motorists, and one such example is motorists parking on Balmatta Road, Falnir Road near Unity Hospital, Don Bosco Hall cross road till Avery Junction, from Jyothi/Dr Ambedkar Circle till Hampankatta, Car street, where cops have taken strict action locking the wheels of vehicles, and making the owner pay a hefty fine of Rs 500 to Rs 1000, depending on the situation and humble request made by the violators to reduce the fines.

Just look at the illegal parking during early mornings and evenings on the newly developed Kadri Park road, and sad to note it is always the rich and the educated people that violate the rules – since they think they can get away with high influence or just don’t care. A couple of months ago, when a caller had complained about illegal parking on Kadri Park road during the former police commissioner’s phone-in programme, police took action by warning the violators and also fining them, and a police constable was deputed to monitor the situation, but that didn’t last long. Now you can see vehicles parked everywhere along the stretch, and also in front of the Kadri Park entrance gate. Bah humbug!

Due to the ongoing road construction work going on various roads, especially on Falnir Road, Kankanady-Valencia Road, and a few other locations, vehicles are seen parking in front of No Parking Signs and wherever they can find a spot. But in spite of No parking signs posted at certain places, those ignorant motorists who violate the no parking zone are slapped with Rs 500/1000, after their vehicle wheels are locked. When these vehicles are parked illegally it affects the smooth flow of traffic, due to this road being used by heavy traffic on both ways.

Despite many warnings and fines being slapped on motorists for parking their vehicles illegally at places meant for pedestrians walking or commuters waiting for the bus at bus stops etc- these shameless and ignorant motorists still park their vehicles illegally- and pay the consequences of fines. In order to control the cases of unauthorized parking violations in the city, the Mangaluru Traffic Police under the direction of Police Commissioner Anupam Agarwal have started the use of wheel clamps in some areas. So far the strategy has been effective.

Citizens also appreciated the move. Speaking to Team Mangalorean, ASI Karunesh Kumar of Kadri East Police Station (who was assisted by Police Constable Viresh Patil) said “For the last few hours bikes, scooters and cars were locked with a wheel clamp for parking illegally on Falnir Road near Unity Hospital. Since there had been plenty of complaints from commuters about such illegal parking, we had to take this action immediately, as directed by the police commissioner. People unnecessarily violate parking rules and pay hefty fines. Motorists need to change their attitude and habits in this respect so that we won’t bother them in taking our action”.

Haphazard parking of vehicles in the City has been a perennial problem. Widening of the road has not helped matters on most of the City roads. Motorists are left with little space to drive as vehicles are parked on both sides of the widened road. Despite the High Court of Karnataka directing the State government to ensure that the local authorities and the police department take action against those who park motor vehicles on footpaths as the law prohibits parking on footpaths and prescribes penal actions for such violations, motorists are still ignorant in abusing the law.

In conclusion, there is no need to blame the police. Many think the various plans taken up by traffic police don’t go far enough – and that we should provide more reasons for putting fewer cars on the road. The only effective long-term solutions are to improve alternative modes – walking, cycling and particularly high-quality public transit. The solution to beating traffic congestion in cities, if it comes, will probably take a long time to reap rewards.

But if at least some of these new ideas are a success – whether it’s one-way routes, free left turns, smart parking places etc – the days of Kudla’s epic tailbacks may finally be consigned to history. If you look at Bengaluru the city traffic police have introduced many new traffic plans, and commuters are adjusting to them. So Mangaloreans also need to cooperate in this regard. So let’s cooperate with Traffic police and see what best could be done to ease out traffic snarls and congestion in Mangaluru.