Rusting away in the lanes

At a time when the city is battling an acute parking space shortage, MiD DAY found several cars left unattended by the roadside at various locations for more than two months

Every time one drives along the city's roads, several cars can be seen parked by the roadside, invariably leading to traffic jams.


The cars that were involved in recent accidents
have been lined up outside Oshiwara police station

Wondering how long these cars lay unattended, a MiD DAY team went surveying the roads and found abandoned vehicles dotting the lanes for days on end.

Bhindi Bazaar
The MiD DAY team went to Bhindi Bazaar and Dongri, one of the busiest areas in South Mumbai, and discovered eight locations where cars had been rusting for the last two months. A traffic constable, on the condition of anonymity said, "These cars have been lying here over eight months and nothing has been done."

JJ Marg
The route below the JJ flyover as well as the road near JJ Hospital's gate were dotted with parked cars. When
MiD DAY reporters visited the area, they noticed several rusting cars, including a Maruti 800, an old school bus, and several bikes.

Said the constable manning the area, "The bikes belong to the owner of the garage at the end of the road."
He added that the bikes and the other cars would be shifted in time for Ganesh Chaturthi.

Pratiksha Nagar, Sion
When MiD DAY reached Pratiksha Nagar in Sion, more than 20 cabs were parked on the side of the narrow road. The long line of taxis was not only an eyesore but also one of the reasons for traffic snarls.

An irate resident of the area said that the cabs stand in the area for months at a time, causing major jams and severely inconveniencing the motorists.
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Inspector (Traffic) Keshav Sanap, Matunga, said of the long line of cabs, "Our towing vehicles frequent this area regularly and we always impound the parked vehicles that block traffic. Here too, we shall tow the taxis away."

Parking hubs
But it is not just roads that have become car lots. During the survey, MiD DAY found that several motorists had turned the area outside police stations into parking spaces.
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For instance, the outside of Oshiwara police station looks like a parking lot, as all the cars involved in recent accidents have been lined up there.

Speaking to MiD DAY, a traffic police official from D N Nagar said, "The police station has parked the vehicles involved in accidents on the road, as there is no place inside the station's compound."

It is not just Oshiwara. In the past, Khar and Bandra police stations have faced the same problem. But they have now shifted the parking to a different lane.

Officialspeak
When MiD DAY approached Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Nandkumar Chougule, he blamed the BMC and said, "The cars parked on the side of the roads are eating into the city's already-crunched space.
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The civic body should create a different cell for removing the cars from streets. In areas such as Bhindi Bazaar, Dongri, these cars create quite a nuisance and cause major traffic snarls."

But Chandrakant Rokade, the deputy municipal commissioner (Removal of Encroachments) refuted the comments that no action was being taken.
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"We seize such kinds of vehicles from time to time, after residents or the traffic department complain to us about them. We penalise owners anywhere between Rs 5,000-Rs 25,000 for parking cars in this manner."

Another official from the encroachment department added, "There isn't much manpower for doing this work as these cars have to be lifted and not towed. Also, there is a shortage of cranes in the department."

The number of private cars in the city has touched a dizzying two million, and the figures seem to be multiplying each day.
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To make matters worse, the city's car parks are ill-managed affairs, where vehicles jostle for space.
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Keeping this in mind, MiD DAY will be bringing you a series of reports on Mumbai's parking woes, trying to shed light on the various factors responsible for this growing crisis in the city.
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We will enquire into where, how and why commuters face parking problems.