Clogged streets in Basavanagudi

A prominent road in Basavanagudi narrows down suddenly because of goods vehicles being parked there all day.

Subbarama Chetty Road, near Nettakallappa Circle, is taken up by goods trucks and autos waiting for customers. A narrow adjoining bylane that leads to a temple is also used for parking. Drivers say they have used this space as a stand for more than four decades.

People face daily problems: they find no space to park their vehicles, and their walls turn into urinals.

Subbarama Chetty Road is one of Bengaluru’s oldest streets. Some houses on it are more than 100 years old.

Metrolife found the goods vehicles parked all through the day, sometimes even after 9 pm.

A famous dance school is housed in a 100-year-old building here, but its lovely facade is blocked by goods vehicles. “We are scared to send our students out after class. The drivers are all out there, sometimes fighting late into the night. This creates fear and tension,” says an elderly teacher who didn’t want to give out her name for the story.

When the school complained to the police, the dance gurus were asked to return with 100 signatures. “We were taken aback at their insensitivity,“ she says.

The school has turned many students into accomplished practitioners of Bharatanatyam. Parents who come to drop off students find no place to park. “This is a sacred place for us all. To have goods vehicles blocking the view is like destroying this structure’s heritage beauty,” a dance teacher says.

The parking extends to the front of an apartment complex. Residents say the wall of the apartment is used as a urinal. A resident who protested many times has been threatened into silence. “When we go there, the drivers gather around and abuse us. They say they will continue to park there,” says the citizen, afraid to give out his name.

The drivers have also erected a board saying goods vehicles are parked there from 6 am to 9 pm. Parking signage ought to be put up by the traffic police, and not others. 

BBMP says...

A senior BBMP official says parking spaces are designated by the BBMP. “We have created on-road and off-road parking. On-road parking is where we demarcate a part of the road for two-wheelers and four-wheelers. This could be for payment or free. Off-side road parking is spaced apart from the road. We also have multi-level car parking,” he says.
The official says he is unaware of any public road being designated for parking of goods vehicles.

Inspector says...

The Basavanagudi traffic police are aware of goods vehicles being parked near Nettakallappa Circle. “The drivers say they have been parking there for 40 years and have no other place. We have directed them to find an alternative place,” he says Kotreshi B M, Inspector Basavanagudi traffic police station.

Police chief says...

“The BBMP and the police work together to designate parking spaces and solve parking issues,“ explains P Harishekaran, additional commissioner of police (traffic). The BBMP should have specific parking spaces for all types of vehicles. “It is their duty to allocate parking to vehicles. The RTO should not allow registration of new vehicles without understanding the parking situation,” he says. He says he is now busy evicting wrong parking, instead of managing traffic. The BBMP should study the width and length of roads and then mark out parking spaces, he suggests.“There is no parking for the growing vehicular population,” he says.