Chandigarh, October 16: Long traffic jams, endless honking, choc-a-block roundabouts, vehicles parked helter-skelter…the run-up to Diwali is every commuter’s nightmare. The rush hour lasts all day and cars slow down to a crawl as the entire tricity comes out to shop for the festival of light, sound, and sweets.
With market associations entering into competitive celebrations, the space earmarked for parking is gobbled up by stalls or a stage such as in Sector 22 jewellery market, forcing commuters to park at any vacant spot along the roadsides. The worst-hit are the markets of Sectors 9, 15, 19, 20, 22, 34, 35, 37, 41, and 44.
Nilambari Vijay Jagdale, SSP Chandigarh, said they are coordinating with the associations to ease the chaos. “We have urged the market association to ensure that there is adequate parking,” she said. “The police have carried out a detailed survey of the problem areas and have drawn area-specific plans to deal with the rush,” she added.
The Chandigarh traffic police have already initiated a special drive against wrong parking in the markets.
Shashank Anand, SSP Traffic, said seeing the large number of complaints about traffic congestion and wrongly parked vehicles last Diwali, they have decided not to allow vehicles to stop for long along the roadsides. “Drivers will not be allowed to park their cars on the roadside and wait for passengers. They can drive around but not clog the roads,” he said. “We have also started special drives against wrong parking in the city till Diwali,” he added.
“We have already issued 1074 challans for wrong parking this month. A total of 392 vehicles had their wheels clamped, while 175 were towed away,” added Anand, while requesting residents to park their vehicles only on designated spots.
Fifteen government schools in the city have been roped in to ease the parking shortage. Instead of choking the markets, the commuters can now park their vehicles in the grounds and parking spots of nearby schools after 3 pm from October 14 to 21.
The residents will be able to park their vehicles at Government Senior Secondary School 45-D, Government Model Sr Sec School 47-D, Government Model High Secondary School 41-D, Government Model Senior Government School 40-B, Government Model Senior Government School 37-C, Government Model Senior Government School 35, Government Girls Model Senior Government School 20-B, Government Model Senior Government School 20-D, Government Girls Model Senior Government School 18, Government High School 19, Government Model Sr. Government School 19, Government Model Senior Government School 22-A, Government Model Senior Government School 22-C, and Government Model Senior Government School 15.
