The city of Navi Mumbai, though promoted as planned city and a counter magnet for Mumbai, is grappling with lack of parking spaces and rampant unauthorised parking. Residents have been constantly voicing their concerns about the multiple problems faced due to unauthorised parking done especially by commercial vehicles along roads leading to residential areas.
The issue of heavy motor vehicles occupying public roads is fast becoming an issue faced in almost every node of the city. Some of the areas where the problem is rampant include Sectors 6, 15 and 17 of Vashi, Sectors 6, 7, 16 and 27 of Nerul, Sectors 3 and 5 of Sanpada and Sector 3 of Belapur.
The Koparkhairane Sector 14 Welfare Association, which consists of over 80 high-rise societies, have been regularly requesting Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation (NMMC) and the traffic department to put an end to the menace of commercial vehicles taking over public space within their sector.
“Commercial buses and trucks can be seen lined up towards the approach road to Sector 14, making it a major task to commute. We regularly raise the matter with the ward officer as it was informed by the traffic police that No Parking sign board is required for them to levy challans,” said Avinash Vasudevan, 39, secretary of the association.
For residents, the issue is more than just illegal parking. Just a few months back, civic officials’ attention was sought by a resident about illegally-parked trucks being used as a makeshift kitchen. Pictures of truck drivers using the rear side of their vehicles parked at MIDC Shirwane Junction to cook food was shared by a resident on Twitter.
“There is no thought given to the safety hazards such actions can cause. The areas where these vehicles are parked are also the pick-up and drop for outstation buses. Imagine the kind of disaster that is waiting to happen,” said the resident, Hiren R.
Ashish Baldev, resident of Vashi, stated that the road leading to Turbhe Flyover often appears as a truck terminal. “In case there is ever an instance of fire outbreak within Koparkhairane Sector 14, fire tenders will surely struggle to even get access into the sector because of the commercial vehicles that are occupying the space. In fact, NMMC workers are not even able to sweep the road properly as these vehicles are parked for days together,” said another resident, Sachin Awasti, 49.
The role of civic officials and traffic department being hand-in-glove is stated to be one of the primary reasons for the menace continuing to thrive with no fear whatsoever.
“Both the local traffic police and ward office keep passing the blame on each other. Ward office states that they need No Objection Certificate (NOC) from traffic police to place ‘No Parking’ boards on the stretch where illegal parking is going on, and traffic police states the ward office is the deciding authority,” informed Vasudevan.
Civic body’s lack of vision is another aspect that is opined to be adding to the mess created by illegal parking. Areas designated for parking of vehicles in Vashi Sector 16 were stated to be posing more problems than solutions.
“The corporation has demarcated huge spaces on either side of the road for parking whereas for the moving traffic only two narrow lanes have been left. In the event of a big bus or even an SUV to pass, there is a lot of manoeuvring needed, leading to traffic congestion,” said Anil Patil, 40, a Vashi resident.
The issue of moving vehicles finding it extremely difficult to manoeuvre is often seen at the end of the flyover in Nerul Sectors 6 and 12 as well as in Belapur Sector 1A.
Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) buses go through major hassles to simply take a turn at the spot owing to the haphazard parking done by both private and commercial vehicles.
“It is both mentally and financially taxing for our bus drivers to drive through these nodes only because of the haphazard parking on either side, “informed an official from NMMT office, Turbhe.
Parts of road demarcated in green for cycling track, like in Nerul Sector 6, is also observed to be occupied by private vehicles. In Nerul Sector 27, long-distance buses are said to be abandoned on the roads, making it a haven for anti-social elements.
“NMMC has given the nod to commercial entities adjacent to major roads of the city like Vashi market Sector 9 and Nerul market Sector 16 to park vehicles. Naturally, shoppers will park there. There is clearly a nexus between the shop owners, ward offices and traffic police as no action is taken” added Patil.
The onus of parking menace caused by heavy motor vehicles is being placed squarely upon the failure of authorities concerned to provide adequate parking. “It is the responsibility of the concerned nodal authority to ensure that there are adequate parking lots made available for heavy vehicles. For the past 10 years, we have been corresponding with the authorities to provide us parking spaces, but nothing has happened. What do our drivers do if there are no parking spaces? Even the testing track in Navi Mumbai is within residential areas. Our vehicles are forced to commute through internal roads,” said the president of Maharashtra Heavy Vehicle and Inter-State Container Operator Association, Pravin Paithankar.
Repeated attempts to contact DCP (Traffic) Purushottam Karad, went futile. However, senior officials from the traffic department said they were regularly conducting drives and levying penalties on those not adhering to parking norms. “We have towing vehicles, e-challans wherein regular offenders are fined and booked for causing traffic disruptions,” said an official.
The Navi Mumbai municipal commissioner, Abhijit Bangar, has informed of working on a policy whereby commercial vehicles will be provided alternate parking slots and heavy penalty is proposed to be levied on those still parking elsewhere.
“The work is in progress. We have to identify appropriate spots for commercial vehicles to park. Following this, as per the policy, there will be heavy penalties imposed,” he said.