To tackle traffic chaos ahead of festive rush, Delhi Traffic Police (DTP) has earmarked 60 vital stretches to be marked as No Parking zones. Illegal parking in these areas will attract a penalty of `600, exclusive of towing charges. Impounding charges range from `100 to `200. The areas, including market hubs, often witness vehicles parked illegally, impeding traffic movement on carriageways.
In a crackdown on vehicles chewing up precious road space narrowing carriageway for movement of traffic, DTP will slap fines five times exponentially. At present, the offenders are levied a fine of `100 plus additional towing charges. The identified areas include Max Mueller Marg, Hamilton Road, lala lajpat Rai Marg, Alakananda market, Pusa Road, Saket, August Kranti Marg, Nehru Place and South Extension. “Over a dozen stretches have been notified. No Parking signs for other stretches will be issued soon. Challans will be issued for parking illegally on carriageways and flouting the No Parking signages. Prosecutions will be carried out under Sections 177 and 179 of the Motor Vehicle Act,” said Anil Shukla, Additional Commissioner of Police (traffic).
Traffic police is hopeful that the move will serve as a deterrent to vehicle owners who park at will. “Wheel clamps will be used to disable vehicles,” said the ACP. Parking slips too will be left on windshields of vehicles left unattended. The menace of violating traffic rules is not limited to service lanes, but main roads near South Extension markets too, for instance, where road space shrinks considerably due to arbit parking.
The drive to check rogue parking is an ongoing one at several arterial stretches, including Ring Road (from Moolchand to AIIMS, covering South Extension markets) in south Delhi, Vikas Marg in east Delhi, Chandni Chowk in the north, Connaught Place’s outer and inner circles and Dwarka’s Sector 4 and Sector 6 markets in west Delhi. Traffic police has issued 3,34,152 challans for illegal parking this year against last year’s 5,33,021. Over 86,000 vehicles have been impounded this year alone.