Noida Authority against unauthorized parking

Illegal parking back to haunt commuters in Noida

NOIDA: Despite the Noida Authority having started a crusade against unauthorized parking across the city nearly four months ago, the situation on the ground remains grim.

The Authority had in June this year launched an intensive campaign against unauthorized parking in one of the most congested areas of Noida — Sector 16.

It had sent out notices asking some leading companies to stop using pavements to park vehicles or face lease deed cancellations. But instead of taking off, the drive remained confined to Sector 16 for nearly two weeks after which it fizzled out.

Four months down the line the situation has gone back to square one, complain residents and traders in the commercial areas of the city. Even as senior officials of the Authority refuse to comment on the “status” of the drive, the parking mafia is slowly taking over land in the city.

The result is that thousands of commuters have to bear with traffic congestion daily on the city’s main roads. Illegally parked vehicles can be seen almost everywhere. Be it Atta market, sector 18, Great India Place Mall or any other main road, illegal parking has become a regular feature. Other affected areas include Model Town crossing, NIB and Chhijarsi T-points on NH-24, Delhi-Noida road, Rajnigandha Chowk, Gol Chakkar, Mamura Chowk, Labour Chowk, sectors 62, 121 and service road along NH-24. Udyog marg, which is the lifeline of Noida, is a nightmare for commuters especially during peak hours. “There are vehicles parked haphazardly all along this road. This leads to numerous traffic jams which last for several hours,” complained Riya Ranjan, who commutes daily on the stretch.

According to officials, there are 42 authorized parking lots in the city. Sources inform that about 30 illegal parking lots exist in Noida. Even as the city seems to be in the grip of a gridlock because of unauthorized parking of vehicles, several plans of multi-level parking lots continue to remain on paper. A six-storey parking lot with a capacity to accommodate 4,000 vehicles in sector 18, a multi-level parking lot at Botanical Garden Metro station and a plan to widen the parking space at Noida City Centre Metro station, all these projects remain “planned”.

The authority officials, however, say the problems will soon be sorted out. “Running desperately short of parking space, we have floated a new policy which focuses on traffic management,” said Harshvardhan Bhadoria, Parking-in-charge, Noida Authority. “The policy aims at discouraging usage of private vehicles and encourage use of public transport and car pools,” Bhadoria added.

//Source:http://www.indianrealtynews.com/category/real-estate-india/noida/