The growing Mysore city has its share of good and bad. The good is all want to own a vehicle of their own, and the bad is all want to ferry on the same vehicles even for a shorter distance, leaving behind public transport, adding to the existing parking problems, writes Sreekantswamy B
If you are planning to visit D Devaraj Urs road in the city, better wear patience on your face. Not that you have to pass through the traffic jam to reach the destination, but because you have to scout for a location to park your vehicle.
Thanks to the growing vehicle density in the city of palaces which has already touched five lakh mark and shows no signs of stopping further. Of the vehicles, two-wheelers account for majority at 80 per cent, closely followed by two-wheelers and three-wheelers.
D Devaraj Urs road and Sayyaji Rao road are the twin commercial hubs of the central business district, wooing people in large numbers. From reputed footwear showrooms to swanky tiles, branded garments to mouth watering dishes, the road is the place for all. Though the dedicated places have been earmarked to accommodate vehicles of types, it’s still a herculean task for the vehicular owners to find a place to park.
According to Devaraja traffic police under whose jurisdiction the road is located, the first and foremost problem is increasing number of vehicles and also lack of adequate space to provide parking facilities. In the case of Urs road alone, there are numerous issues working against providing parking facilities for all.
Though the road boasts of commercial buildings, none of them have cellars to provide parking facilities for the vehicles of customers. Agreed to the fact that majority of the buildings exist from the time when vehicles were the chattel of a few, the shopkeepers ignored to create space for others as and when the years passed. As a result, parking woes on the stretch has become a routine like.
Of the vehicles parked, most belong to the shopkeepers and the staff employed by them. It’s obvious for the vehicles to be parked from 10 am to 9 pm till the shops close for the day’s business. Then the space left for others is not much-be it customers or others.
Another reason is haphazard parking in the form of two-wheelers standing on side-stands. In the case of central stand, there will be sufficient space left for the vehicles to stand on either sides. Another reason coming in the way of parking is metal platforms connecting road and footpath put up by the shopkeepers again. At times, frustrated to find space, the vehicular owners especially of cars park in prohibited zones thus inviting the wrath of policemen on duty.
Amid this, the new thing is the vast compound of Devaraja traffic police station has turned into a parking lot for the vehicles bringing people to Urs road. The said portion of the land where vehicles are allowed to park now, is identified for the proposed Dr B R Ambedkar Bhavan.
Similar is the story of adjacent roads- Srirampet, Sayyaji Rao road, Dhanwantri road to name a few, where too parking remains a problem far from ending. The situation at localities too is no different where finding parking space at times is a serious cause for concern. While some of the gates in the front of the houses proudly bear the boards announcing- no parking in front of the gates, some others take it too seriously to enter into a wordy duel.
Cops say
When City Herald enquired with the traffic police they blamed both public and civic body for the current pathetic situation. According to them the only solution is the introduction of pay and park facility, that could at least minimise the use of multiple vehicles in one family. Though pay and park is in force, it’s only in small pockets.
According to Karnataka Road Safety Rules, parking of vehicles near the signal lights in the radius of 30 feet is prohibited. In the case of unmanned signal lights it is 50 feet. But vehicle owners prefer to violate hindering the line of sight, without much ado.
Violations and fine amount
Parking of two-wheelers in prohibited zones attracts a fine amount of Rs 300 and for four-wheelers it is Rs 200. In the case of Devaraja traffic police alone, in the year 2011, 10,377 cases were booked against two-wheelers and 12, 997 against four-wheelers.
In the year 2010- 9,492 two-wheelers and 7,547 four-wheelers were booked.