Slowing down the tempo
Mumbai Traffic dept mulls curbs on commercial vehicles
In yet another attempt to ease the congestion and parking problems in the city, Mumbai Traffic Police are mulling restrictions on the plying of commercial tempos, mostly three-wheelers, as police have observed that they enter the city in large numbers throughout the day, throwing up congestion and parking issues.
Speaking on the subject, the joint commissioner of police (traffic), Yashasvi Yadav, said, “The influx of commercial tempos, mostly three-wheelers, has become predominant in the city and they occupy a lot of space, as well.”
In 2017, traffic police had placed restrictions on the plying of heavy vehicles in south Mumbai.
Heavy vehicles are only allowed to ply during the night in South Mumbai, from midnight 12am to 7am in the morning.
Moreover, the traffic police department has also declared a 24-hour ‘no parking’ for heavy vehicles, including luxury buses, in the jurisdictions of eight police stations in South Mumbai, including MRA Marg, Cuffe Parade, Colaba, Azad Maidan, Marine Drive, LT Marg and VP Road. According to a traffic police notification, all heavy vehicles -- except those providing essential services, like the delivery of milk and vegetables, ambulances, those of the police and fire departments, government, semi-government vehicles and all buses transporting passengers -- will have daytime restrictions for running on the roads. “We are planning similar restrictions on tempos as well and are checking the feasibility of this move,” Yadav said.
Another traffic official said that while tempos involved in the ferrying of emergency and essential goods could be allowed to ply, the transportation of non-emergency goods such as furniture or electronics could be done either early in the morning or late at night. This would not only help in the smooth flow of traffic, but would also ease parking space issues in the daytime. Recently, the traffic department had taken a major step to ease the parking problems of motorists residing in old buildings and without parking space, by agreeing to provide them noobjection certificates (NOCs) to park their vehicles in the street near their residence. As per this initiative, once a request is received by traffic police for permission to park in the street, traffic police would inspect the place and only if feasible, would grant the NOC. However, those societies which have been given NOCs will have to appoint a warden to ensure the assigned parking spot is not used by other vehicles. “We are considering all possible ways to reduce congestion and ensure there is enough parking space available,” said the official.