Nagpur: The Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC) ambitious plan to introduce ten additional on-street parking zones is facing significant resistance as traffic cops raise concerns over its feasibility. The proposal, aimed at easing parking woes and reducing towing incidents, has been met with skepticism from law enforcement officials.
DCP (Traffic) Chetna Tidke confirmed the red-flagging of seven proposed on-street parking zones by the traffic cops. The identified zones span from Ram Nagar to Ravi Nagar Square, Manewada Chowk to Tukdoji Putla Square, Kamgar Bhavan Square to Cotton Market, Gandhibagh Garden periphery (from Sona Restaurant to Annapurna Hotel Square), Indora to Barakholi, Barakholi to Bhim Chowk, and Kamal Chowk to Vaishali Nagar.
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04 April 2025
The root of the problem lies in the lack of consultation between the NMC’s Traffic Department and the traffic police during the identification process. The NMC independently earmarked around 75 on-street parking spaces across the city without seeking the opinion of traffic experts and police officials.
During the first phase, NMC proposed ten roads for on-street parking, of which eight were initially approved for two-wheelers and four-wheelers. In the second phase, the Traffic Department submitted a proposal for no-objection certificates to begin on-street parking at ten additional locations. However, this process took nearly four months for traffic cops from six zones to conduct a comprehensive traffic study at these sites.
Subsequently, the traffic cops from Sonegaon traffic zone expressed approval for on-street parking only on one side of two stretches, namely Mate Chowk-Pratap Nagar Square and Bajaj Nagar Square-Aath Rasta Square. Similarly, Sakkardara traffic zone suggested that parking be allowed along the stretch from Medical Square to Ashok Chowk, given the width of the existing road.
In contrast, traffic zones like Sakkardara, Lakadganj, Indora, and Cotton Market submitted negative reports, opposing on-street parking at the remaining seven stretches. These zones argued that on-street parking is not feasible on busy roads with substantial commercial activity, as it could severely impact traffic flow and lead to chaos on the roads.
The traffic cops fear that if on-street parking is permitted on busy roads, they will be unfairly blamed for the ensuing traffic disruptions. They stress that vehicular movement may be severely affected, leading to potential safety hazards.
