Unauthorised parking: Over 30K vehicles kept along roads to be removed to decongest Shimla

Shimla: In a crackdown on unauthorised parking, over 30,000 vehicles kept along roads in the Himachal Pradesh capital will be removed, an action, authorities say, will ensure a smooth flow of traffic amid a huge influx of tourists to the hill city to beat the heat.

This kind of parking on both sides of a road makes the passage way narrow, leading to traffic jams and snarls, officials said, adding that the situation worsens during the weekends when a large number of people visit Shimla.

With the plains in northern India witnessing a heat spell and summer vacation in schools, people prefer spending time in hill states such as Himachal Pradesh, where the weather is pleasant.

In the last 48 hours, from Friday, about 54,000 vehicles have entered the state capital, the officials said, pointing out that Shimla has 12 authorised parking lots and a limited number of "yellow line" demarcated parking spaces along roads with a total capacity of just 4,500 to 5,000 vehicles.

There are over 1.25 lakh vehicles registered with a Shimla number plate and those parked illegally along roads number 60,000, according to police data.

"Police in Shimla have launched a campaign to decongest roads by removing vehicles parked along roads in an unauthorised manner to ensure obstruction free flow of traffic as well as safety of pedestrians," Shimla Superintendent of Police (SP) Sanjeev Kumar Gandhi told PTI.

"Over 30,000 vehicles (about 50 per cent of the vehicles illegally parked along roads) would be removed in an eight-week-long campaign," he said.

Police said "Mission Junk-Free Roads" started this weekend and so far, more than 500 vehicles have been removed on the Taradevi-ISBT stretch. Vehicles damaged in accidents and those without claimants have also been removed.

Rueing the traffic situation in his city, Amit Sood said several road stretches were widened to remove traffic bottlenecks under the Shimla Smart City Project, but most have become narrow with cars parked on both sides.

The municipal corporation has allotted specific areas for parking, and vehicles parked at unauthorised locations would be identified and a notice would be issued to the owners to remove their vehicles, the SP said, adding that vehicles of repeated violators will be impounded.

Identification of unclaimed vehicles will be carried out, and in case, no claimant appears, such vehicles will be seized and auctioned, police said.

Noting that authorised parking space is less in the city, police said for now, vehicles will be allowed to park along one side of a road and one side will be cleared. To better regulate traffic in the city, police have started a one-minute traffic plan -- holding vehicles at entry points -- and proposed setting up traffic lights at 10 points.

CCTV cameras have been installed at the 16 major road stretches and points, and bifurcations that are perpetual traffic bottlenecks, the officials said.

The acute shortage of parking in schools, colleges, hospitals, government and private offices, shopping areas located along roads coupled with haphazard parking on narrow roads is mainly responsible for traffic congestion, according to the Shimla City Traffic Regulation and Management Plan (SITRAM) prepared by the Shimla Police in February 2021.