CONRAD DIAS
Ranchi, Aug 19: The Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) is once again preparing to set up parking spaces across the city. For this, RMC has floated a tender for 13 parking spots in the city on Thursday. Out of these, 11 are completely on the roadside.
Many believe that the decision by RMC to set up parking spaces on the roadside is only going to increase the already troubled situation of traffic jams in the city. However, RMC will get revenue due to the parking of vehicles at these places.
“People still park their vehicles on the side of the road. However, in many places traffic police fine them for wrong parking. With setting up parking places more such places will get crowded and will cause congested traffic jams in the city,” said Sanjay Kumar, one of the shop owners on Main Road.
The new parking places which will be set up in the city are said to be at Hanuman Mandir Taxi Stand on Main Road, from Ved Textiles to Nishant Automobiles, from Kali Mandir in Kachari Chowk to the corner of Commissioner Office, from Hero Showroom to V-Mart on Main Road, from Gupta Bhandar to Leather World, from Citadel Building to Horizon Honda, from Senco showroom to AC Market, from Vishal Mega Mart to Hanuman Mandir, Area near Ranchi Club Complex, Premsons Motor Kanke Road and Bahu Bazar parking lot.
Out of the above-mentioned parking places, the only parking place which is off the road is Hanuman Mandir Taxi Stand where there is no jam due to parking of vehicles. The rest of the parking areas are located on the road itself.
Apart from these, an area which remains crowded is Lalpur near Hari Om Tower and Nucleus Mall. The traffic near the mall is congested throughout the week and there are no parking spaces for four-wheelers near the mall.
On weekends, the crowd is so much that the security guards do not allow vehicles to enter the mall’s parking and it becomes difficult for people to park their vehicles anywhere near the mall.
“For the last two three weeks, the situation has been the same. The mall’s parking gets full quite fast and there are no places it seems inside the parking area. If we park our car outside, the traffic police fine us for wrong parking. What should a common man do if the administration does not provide proper parking facilities?” said Sachin Nitesh, a resident of Ranchi.
However, there are many marketing complexes and establishments in the city which let customers park their vehicles on the road despite having parking facilities. In August 2021, RMC prepared a plan of action against such establishments. Under this, a fine of Rs 15,000 on the shop owners was imposed.
However, RMC has not provided any data with regard to it and how many shopkeepers have been fined in the last one year.
