Parel residents refuse to use parking options given years back

Residents say cops were 'ruthless and rude' while cops allege they were manhandled during the drive being carried out at the J B Bhatankar Marg. Pics/Ashish Raje

Just a day after 11 residents of J B Bhatankar Marg in Parel were taken into custody after they allegedly argued with and manhandled traffic cops who were on a special drive against parked vehicles in crowded lanes, the traffic department said that around five to six years ago they had marked the area as a no-parking zone and suggested two spots where they could park their vehicles. However, the residents refused to abide by the rules fearing that they would be charged for it, and also because one of the spots was at a distance from their area.

A senior officer from the traffic department said, "We had given the residents two options - one at a commercial building on Elphinstone Road and the other at the MCGM lot near Deepak Talkies - for parking their vehicles, but they were not happy with these. They want to park their vehicles close to their homes. But if we consider the location of the lane, that's not possible. We had also distributed pamphlets explaining the issues related to on-road parking and its effect on traffic. But as the residents are not ready to understand the situation, we have no option but to take action."

Meanwhile, a resident, who owns a shop in the area, said, "The commercial building is nearby but what's the guarantee that we won't have to pay?" Another resident said, "The MCGM parking lot is at a distance from our residence. We don't mind if the cops ask shop owners to park their vehicles there, as once they get into their store, they don't have to move out. But what about residents? We use our two-wheelers multiple times during the day. How can we walk 500-600 metres every time we need our vehicles? It's really inconvenient."

However, another resident suggested, "We want traffic cops to count the number of vehicles residents of the area have and issue identification stickers to each of them. If vehicles other than those are parked here, action should be taken. We don't have any issue with that." Meanwhile, the 11 residents who were arrested by the Dadar police secured bail on Friday afternoon. They were arrested on April 23 and kept at the Arthur Road Jail.

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