What must be done to curb illegal parking in the city?

Parking slots should be provided. They should be marked clearly. Police must monitor these through CCTVs. Any vehicle parked out of the slots should be seized and the owner penalised. Shopping malls, hotels, private and government buildings should be instructed to provide parking slots for their customers. No parking zone areas should be notified and strictly implemented. Mobile police teams and authorised agencies should regularly look out for violators to punish them on the spot. — Gudipati Shanti Priya (Congratulations Gudipati Shanti Priya! You win `150 which you may collect from our office before Friday)

II

The first thing to do to prevent illegal parking is to provide adequate legal parking space. At present, legal parking space is woefully inadequate. Wherever it is available it is mostly around stinking garbage bins amidst filth and squalor. Since there is lack of adequate open space in the city, what is needed is multi-level parking. This can be funded through public-private sector partnership as in the case of highways. — T.N. Menon

III

People resort to illegal parking as there is hardly any legal parking space available. It is understood that the government cannot provide enough parking space for the spiralling number of vehicles. But it can encourage private builders/ property owners by giving them incentives to build parking complexes instead of commercial spaces. I have also seen people haggle for parking fees stating that `20 is very expensive while they conveniently forget that their cars cost lakhs. It would be appropriate to penalise or detain vehicles for illegal parking only after providing space. — Vivek Palnitkar

IV

Illegal parking has become a matter of deep concern. It not only causes inconvenience to pedestrians but also affects the smooth flow of traffic. The best way to curb this is to display a big illuminated board with 'No parking' written on it. It should also have a sensor which gives a beep sound when parking is done illegally. Fines can always be imposed based on CCTV footage. — Tajunnisa Aamin

V

The GHMC must demarcate sufficient parking zones with sign boards. Surveillance cameras must be fixed to record number plate details of those who park at no-parking areas and these people must be penalised heavily. The GHMC must declare a policy of rewarding those who complain the authority about people parking in no-parking areas. — Priyanka Kankipati