HYDERABAD: Unregulated and haphazard parking of vehicles seems to be strangulating roads all over the city, more conspicuous and tiresome being near food joints and market places. At popular places like Sindhi Colony, Ranigunj and Diamond Point, roads get shrunk due to the parked vehicles on the side leaving little place for moving vehicles to pass.
A problem that many colonies with compact lanes face is that outsiders park their vehicles irresponsibly in the lanes or behind other cars making it difficult for others to access their vehicles. Even though ‘no parking’ boards with fines mentioned onto them are placed at such places, people pay no heed to such regulations as there is no one to implement it strictly.
A few hotspots have also turned into unauthorised auto parking stands, which while being convenient for people who need to hire autos, shrinking the available space. However, the auto drivers think otherwise. “We have lived in this basti for many years now and we have the right to park our autos. However, the roads are also used by second hand car dealers who display cars for sale on the corners of the main road. They need to be questioned, not us. We own this area, we live here and we have the right,” they said.
Footpaths are also not spared by two wheeler users. Places like Begumpet road, Paradise Circle, Prakash Nagar, Sindhi Colony and many others have their footpaths converted into illegal two wheeler parking stands, with no one to check.
Security guards outside various restaurants and residential areas say that no matter how hard they try to warn and request people, they do not listen and park their vehicles in no parking area, giving excuses that they will be back in a few minutes or they tend to pick up a fight. Residents complain that at a few commercial buildings such as CTC, Parklane, around '20 rupees is charged for parking but when questioned, ticket issuers refuse to reveal which authority the fee goes to. However, many restaurant owners help people somehow park and manage vehicles around the shops or in nearby colonies.
Vox Pop
People come and park their vehicles on the roads. We don’t allow outsiders to park their vehicles in the building. Sometimes they ask us to take care of it by paying us money and we do so. - Srinivas, security guard, Begumpet.
We don’t have parking space for our customers as our shop is on the main road. They park their vehicles on the road leading to traffic jams. - Madhukar, ice store manager, Begumpet.
We have to park our own vehicles far from our house as our parking area is occupied illegally by staff of a nearby hospital. Not only them, others have also started parking their vehicles here and it is difficult to spot who comes from where. - Aman Shah, resident of Sindhi Colony.
The lanes here are already narrow. On top of it, several autos parked in the lane cause huge difficulty for others to pass by. Trucks that load and unload products also create traffic jams. - Hamza Tamba, businessman, Ranigunj
The lanes near Mahakali temple and nearby places are very compact. Also the CTC Parklane charge parking fees from people and when questioned they say it is the boss’ order but they do not know who the boss is. - Huzefa Roha, businessman, M.G. Road.
There are many food joints in Sindhi Colony where my family and I go on weekends, mostly by car. We either wait on either side of the road for an empty parking space. It gets very difficult all the time to find a parking space. - Kiran Lakhiani, who often travels to Sindhi Colony.
There are no proper parking spaces at malls, parks, restaurants etc. Most of the time, I have to park my vehicle far from the place I came for. The government must allot parking places or provide a solution for this. - Mihir S.
