Srinagar, January 3: After the Jammu and Kashmir High Court banned roadside parking in Srinagar, the district administration has identified four parking spaces in the commercial hub of the city as the residents were facing difficulties in the absence of any such space.
The interim parking spaces were identified during Deputy Commissioner Shahid Iqbal Choudhary’s visit to the city centre on Wednesday. The visit and the measure followed repeated appeals in this regard to the district administration.
The identified parking areas include SDA’s Sangarmal compound on MA Road, Sports Council’s Turf Ground parking at TRC, SRTC Yard at Lal Chowk and old SMG compound behind Press Enclave at Abi Guzar.
These spaces can accommodate nearly 500 cars — around 200 at Sangarmal compound, 150 at old SMG compound, 60 at Turf Ground parking and 60 at SRTC Yard.
Three of these spaces will be available to traders for parking from today, whereas the remaining one at the old SMG compound will be available from January 10.
The parking spaces will be provided at special rates to traders. Shoppers will also be allowed to park their vehicles at these spaces for limited periods of time.
After the High Court order which barred roadside parking, the traders have been appealing to the authorities to provide them with the parking spaces as it had really become impossible to stop car in the commercial hub as there are only a few parking spaces available which get occupied early in the morning.
The DC said the administration understood the inconvenience traders in the area faced due to lack of parking spaces and that this measure was aimed at minimising the inconvenience.
He said work was in full swing on both the Abi Guzar and Sheikh Bagh multi-level parkings, adding that the executing agencies concerned had been directed to speed up work and ensure their completion at the earliest.
Meanwhile, a technical committee under the RTO, Kashmir, has been constituted to recommend those areas where roadside parking can be allowed without affecting the smooth traffic movement. The recommendations will be submitted to the High Court for consideration.
The Divisional Commissioner, Kashmir, on December 21 constituted six no-parking zones around the city centre — Lal Chowk to Dalgate, Lal Chowk to Jehangir Chowk, Jehangir Chowk to Naaz Crossing, Secretariat road to Batamalo and Jehangir Chowk to Karan Nagar.
To ensure no other kind of encroachment takes place on the roadsides, the district administration has constituted teams to prevent that. The magistrates concerned have been instructed to initiate immediate and strict action against those found involved in encroaching roadsides. Shopkeepers and vendors have been particularly warned against involvement therein.
