`1,000 penalty for bad parking

Drive targets those blocking traffic

Hyderabad traffic police has started yet another drive against obstructive parking and plans to impose upto `1,000 fine if the vehicle is parked irresponsibly on the city roads.

On Wednesday, traffic police installed signboards warning against obstructive parking at no-parking zones across Marredpally, Raj Bhavan Road, CM camp office, Begumpet and few other parts of the city.

The drive targets traffic violators who block the carriageways on the city roads affecting the smooth flow of the traffic as well as endangering lives of the commuters.

The offenders who will be booked for blocking the roads by parking their vehicles in a wrong manner will have to pay a fine of `1,000 against a challan for obstructive parking.

According to Hyderabad Traffic police, E-challans will be preferred in this case as violators argue a lot when the challans of higher amounts are booked manually. In cases where the vehicle was found in no-parking zones the fine is only `200, so violators prefer to pay that fine amount.

Traffic DCP Ranganath said, “We have just started yet another drive against obstructive parking in several parts in the city and this time, we are being strict against those blocking carriageways, obstructing the smooth flow of traffic and we have also started putting up the signboards to alert the public in the city.”

While the traffic police started this drive to ensure the smooth flow of traffic, commuters on the other hand, are unhappy and asked where they should park when there is not enough parking spaces in the city.

D. Vinay, a commuter, said, “Parking has been commercialised nowadays with each and every commercial buildings having their own parking fees. They charge as per their own will. To avoid the parking fees we try to park outside the buildings where there is some space. With this drive, people will be forced to park vehicles in private parking areas and pay the parking fee instead of getting penalised. First, traffic police and the GHMC should provide enough parking space and then they should regulate parking fee. It should be uniform all over the city so commuters will not be over charged by private parking handlers.”