Where there is a will, there is a way: HC on Salt Lake parking
Times of India | 30 August 2024
Kolkata: Calcutta High Court on Thursday directed the commissioner of the Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation (BMC) to designate parking areas, and also the no-parking zones, in Salt Lake and deploy authorized persons in uniform to collect the approved parking fees.
A division bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Hiranmay Bhattacharyya also directed periodical surprise visits to ensure that fees were being collected at authorized rates.
Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam gave a piece of his mind while passing the order. The Chief Justice, while hearing the petition on illegal parking in the BMC area, held that this was not a problem of Bidhannagar alone. “This is a problem in the entire Kolkata area and also in the districts. In fact, the Calcutta High Court is faced with the problem,” the Chief Justice observed.
“First of all, you cooperate in regulating car parking in the high court area. Unless the Bar cooperates, the police can’t handle the mess,” the Chief Justice told the petitioner’s counsel.
Counsel for BMC Sirsanya Bandyopadhyay submitted that the corporation had already invited a tender to streamline parking in Salt Lake.
The counsel for the petitioner pleaded with the court to pass directions asking the BMC to put up display boards announcing the parking fees and also depute persons in uniform to collect the fees. The counsel recounted that the petitioner was manhandled by a person collecting parking fees. “He didn’t even carry an ID card,” the counsel said. The counsel mentioned the CM had also agitated over illegal parking in Salt Lake in an administrative meeting.
“If there is a will, there is a way. You need to have political will and official will. No order by this court can remedy the situation. Unless the municipality has a genuine will to regulate parking without any political influence, the mess can’t be prevented,” the Chief Justice observed.
Chief Justice Sivagnanam cited successful parking regulation on Commercial Street in Bengaluru and the old town in Puducherry. “No shop has encroached on the pavement,” the Chief Justice said.
When the BMC counsel submitted to the bench that the petitioner may approach the BMC over ways to address his grievance, the Chief Justice said: “No sir. You do it. Your chairman is an elected representative. He is sitting there with people’s mandate. Why do you expect the petitioner to beg before you when you go to houses to beg for votes during elections?”
The Chief Justice referred to the road off Bypass adjoining a five-star hotel near Yuva Bharati Krirangan. “Only an autorickshaw can take this road. After 8.30 pm, taxis are parked all over the road and there is double-lane parking. Moreover, every household has a minimum of two cars. The housing society offers covered parking for one car. The other car is parked on the road,” the Chief Justice said.