Mumbai: In a major crackdown against illegal parking at bus stops, a special campaign was launched by the Mumbai Traffic Police that started from April 24 to May 5. During the same, they managed to penalise 9,658 vehicles and managed to collect ₹10,21,710 fine.
According to police officials, the main reason this campaign was started was due to multiple complaints from students, the specially-abled and senior citizens regarding boarding and alighting from the buses due to lack of space at the existing bus stops.
The main reason for this is the encroachment of illegal parking surrounding the bus stops, and worse, in front of the bus stops. As per norms, no vehicles are supposed to be parked at or near the bus stop premises, however, the e-bikes by BEST are permitted to be parked for people to use the service.
Several motorists tend to break laws for ‘temporary’ parking, said a traffic official. He said, “Temporary parking is basically where they need to do business on the spot, and instead of pay-and-park, they just park at any empty spots since they will be back in a couple of minutes, or within an hour. We let go sometimes if it's urgent work, but the problem is the number of people who all think the same, end up crowding the area - even if it's temporary.”
The Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP) who are active on ‘X’, previously called Twitter, get regular updates from netizens about illegal parking. A traffic cop from DN Nagar in Andheri said, “People tag MTP to say about parking and we get the alert and accordingly a vehicle is sent to the spot to clear up the situation. It’s helpful because this way we do not miss any spots.”
Soon after MTP’s post on illegal parking on best stops, netizens poured down heavily by commenting about Mumbai’s spots with the most encroachment by illegal parking. One user said, “SVP Road is always full of vehicles parked at @myBESTBUS stops, action is never taken despite various complaints over the years.” Another comment says, “L R Papan Marg, off Dr E. Moses Road, Gandhinagar, Worli, vehicles parked on both sides even though it has one side parking. Four and two-wheelers drive in from both sides of the one-way street, causing jams and inconvenience.”
