DH IMPACT: Parking racket in Cubbon Park busted, traffic eases

Traffic flowed smoothly around the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Saturday, thanks to a parking racket inside Cubbon Park being busted.

Every time an IPL match was held in the city, hundreds of vehicles would be parked on Kings Road, parallel to Queen’s Road. With parked vehicles taking up a major part of the road, traffic would be choked, causing jams on MG Road, Kasturba Road, and other roads in the vicinity.

Traffic was especially well regulated on Saturday when Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) played Delhi Daredevils (DD) at the stadium.

On April 16, DH Metrolife had exposed the illegal parking racket thriving inside the park, in a report titled ‘IPL peak season for parking loot’. That was a day after this reporter surveyed the area to understand where traffic bottlenecks were located.

Besides illegal parking inside the park, DH also found roads designated ‘no parking’ packed with endless rows of vehicles. The racket was thriving right under the nose of the traffic police and the horticulture department.

DH revisited King’s Road on Saturday and found no vehicles parked on the footpath, a welcome change from previous match days.

The authorities had also taken care to avoid blocking of King’s Road, which curves towards Press Club and proceeds towards the High Court. That was one spot where vehicles were stalled during the previous match.

Cricket fans who attempted to park their bikes on the footpath were stopped by horticulture department attendants. The roads in front of Press Club, where four-wheelers used to be illegally parked on earlier match days, were free of vehicles.

Extra police personnel were on duty on the stretch.

“We have sent four towing vehicles to patrol around the stadium during the IPL match. We have also sent another to patrol IPL-designated parking places: UB City, Kanteerava Stadium, and St Joseph’s School grounds. They will tow away illegally parked vehicles,” said Anupam Agarwal, DCP (traffic east).

He said police were also keeping an eye on Cubbon Park so that it was not taken over by vehicles on match days.

Official take

Mahantesh Murugod, deputy director of horticulture (in charge of Cubbon Park), said, “We have taken corrective measures and issued special instructions to our parking attendants not to allow any illegal parking on the footpath.”

He said he had also warned those pocketing money. “We are making sure there is no discrepancy between the money collected and the parking slip,” he told DH.

Rupesh Kumar, an IPL fan, said, “I had paid Rs 100 last time and received a Rs 15 slip. This time, I was charged Rs 30 and given a receipt for Rs 30.”