By H. Chin Khenthang
There was a news report that an IGP’s vehicle was clamped (ST 25.6.2013). Though not a big event, it makes news because, though the police often blatantly violate traffic rules they themselves impose by jumping ‘No Entry’ signs and parking at ‘No Parking’ places. The police seldom take action against their own men, leave alone their senior officers. Some months ago, when I reached Khyndailad traffic point from Keating Road, a police vehicle in front of me jumped the ‘No Entry’ sign and drove straight. As I followed it deliberately as a novel way of protest, a traffic policeman stopped me and asked me harshly, “Don’t you see the ‘No Entry’ sign? Why do you come straight”?
I replied saying, “What about that police? I am simply following it. If the police vehicle can go, why not my vehicle?” Rule is same for all.” After exchange of heated arguments, he rang up his boss who was sensible enough to tell him, “If you allow police vehicle, how can you stop others?”We all know that the number of vehicles has increased by leaps and bounds, but parking space has not increased by an inch. Rather, it is fast shrinking as ‘No Parking’ signs have sprung up everywhere on the road sides which were formally used for parking without causing much obstruction to the movement of traffic.
To mention a few, one-way roads around old Assembly, most of G.S. Road, roads in Laitumkhrah area including the one between Don Bosco square and Dhankheti (one way during school opening hours), one-way road around C.M.’s new Bungalow near Polo, road at A.R. Bazar in Happy Valley etc. have been turned into ‘No Parking’ places. With no alternative place to park, we are sometimes compelled to park at ‘No Parking’ places in case of emergency hoping that Lady Luck will come to our help. But, often, ‘The man with the wheel clamp’ is more prompt than her. Sometimes they clamp even vehicles parked at places where there is no ‘No Parking’ sign.
One day, seeing no ‘No Parking’ sign but parked vehicles nearby, I parked my vehicle near a shopping complex. When I returned after a few minutes, I found it was clamped. When I protested, the Sadar Traffic Inspector said: “Parking is not allowed there, and we cannot put men or ‘No Parking’ sign everywhere.” Is this not arbitrariness and high-handedness?
The police claims, and rightly so, that they have to take all these measures to maintain smooth flow of traffic. But it is the vehicle users who want a jam-free smooth driving much more than the police do; but equally they need a place to park as well. Most of them buy vehicle not for joyrides but for use in marketing, dropping children to school etc. besides other purposes. So, a jam-free smooth driving has no meaning to them if they are not allowed to park anywhere near the place of their business even for a brief period.
In particular, the restriction on road side parking near schools is giving much hardship to parents of school-going small children. For they cannot let their small kids go alone; first they have to park their vehicle wherever they can find a space which can be quite at a distance, then walk to the school with the child, under the sun or the rain and through heavy traffic. This is not only troublesome but risky. For senior police officers who have their men at their disposal to do shopping, dropping children etc. for them may be oblivious of these problem. To appreciate it they need to do all the driving, parking, shopping, dropping children etc. by themselves a couple of times.
In a place like Guwahati, one can see parked vehicle all along the busy G.S. road and many other narrower roads, even in busy shopping areas like Fancy Bazar, Pan Bazar, Dispur etc. In the absence of alternative place for parking, some allowances and adjustments are made by allowing road side parking wherever possible. Roads in Dimapur’s shopping area are more congested than ours in Khyndailad Dhankheti, Laitumkhrah etc, but roads side parking is allowed, and traffic continues to flow.
As such, I cannot understand the logic or reasoning behind the conversion of more and more of our road side spaces into ‘No Parking’ areas, particularly after the opening of Shillong bypass, when what we need is more and more space for parking. If this trend continues at this pace, the time will soon come when we will have to park our vehicles at home before venturing out for shopping, dropping children to school etc. for want of space for parking.
Having been deprived of more and more of their parking space causing great inconvenience to them, vehicle owners or users increasingly feel that they are a harassed lot, and are mentally agitated. To add to it, the draconic measure of clamping of vehicles causes much heartburn, if the recent incident in Happy Valley is any indication. The duty of the police is not to inconvenience the people but to help and convenience them.
To my mind, the immediate limited solution to parking problem is to open more and more road sides, wherever feasible – and one-way road sides in particular, for parking. If others we could park in the past without causing much inconvenience to traffic, why not now? It is likely to cause some inconvenience, but we have to adjust with it, live with it. But if the police is concerned about the flow of traffic only and do not bother about our parking problem, and if they think they can solve traffic problem by prohibiting road side parking and by clamping vehicle and then sit back, then we are simply helpless. But before doing these, let them at least tell us where to park, and also remove those who turn public roads into vehicle repair shops.
(The writer retired as Principal Secretary, Govt of Meghalaya)