Behind trucks with broken windscreens and flat tyres: Illegal parking industry at New Alipore worth 6 lakh a month
Times of India | 11 July 2025
Kolkata: A fledgling illegal parking mafia, involving a few influential locals and a section of cops, appears to be at the heart of the issue which led to truck vandalism by cops at New Alipore on Tuesday night.
Thirty trucks were vandalised, some having their windscreens broken, others getting their tyres deflated. Truck drivers, on condition of anonymity, claimed that they were asked to fork out Rs 100 a night for parking on Brahmabandhab Upadhyay Road adjoining the New Alipore railway siding. They claimed they had been parking there for four decades, where parking issues thus far "were managed" by the local truck union.
"There are 150-200 trucks parked inside and outside the railway siding. That amounts to Rs 20,000 a night and around Rs 5.5 lakh-Rs 6 lakh a month," a trucker said. Cement is loaded onto these trucks and sent to various places in South 24 Parganas.
The cops, however, have rubbished claims of their men being involved in the illegal parking racket. "The truck drivers are lying. There is space inside the siding for the truckers to park. But they avoid it so that they do not have to pay parking fees. Instead, they park on Brahmabandhab Upadhyay Road. Of late, they have started parking even on Pramatha Chowdhury Road. Not only is that road a crucial connector to Tollygunge Circular Road and Chetla Road, but ambulances use this road, given a busy hospital is nearby. Yet, trucks keep blocking this road. They do not even leave in the morning. This creates major resentment in the area. For two weeks, we tried to remove the illegal parking but were unsuccessful," claimed a cop from New Alipore, saying the "overreaction" from cops could have been "triggered due to some sudden provocation".
The explanations, though, have not satisfied locals, nor even a section of cops at Lalbazar. "Suspending four sub-inspectors hours after an incident near a single police station is rare, the only parallel being custodial death cases. There is more to it than meets the eye," said an officer. "I have seen these trucks being parked here since I was a kid. But, over time, they kept intruding on the main roads where residents stay, away from the siding. They are a mess at night. We are aware of an illegal parking racket as no amount of complaint has worked before. However, we have no clue what triggered Tuesday night's incident and the subsequent blockade by truckers the next morning," said Arunpratim Sengupta, a resident of N Block in New Alipore.
On Thursday, the truck operators who transport goods from the railway sidings at New Alipore appeared a terrified lot. "We park our trucks there daily to load or unload, and then move to our respective destinations. Is it possible to fight with a crocodile while staying in the same water body?" said a truck operator who has been parking his vehicle regularly on Brahmabandhab Upadhyay Sarani for the last 15 years.
The majority of the truck operators were afraid to speak to the media. "We have our share of problems. We don't want to invite any further trouble," said another trucker.
Sajal Ghosh, general secretary, Federation of West Bengal Truck Operators Associations, who visited the spot on Thursday, said, "Each truck operator pays a hefty sum of money to both cops and local netas to park their vehicles. Since it is within the city, trucks just cannot move in and out at any time due to the traffic restrictions. If they load and unload during the day, they need to stay there till 9 pm before they can move out of the place. No truck operator has an unending pocket to keep greasing palms.
"The truckers held a meeting on Thursday morning about the events that unfolded since Tuesday. "We have decided to meet the transport minister and apprise him of the situation. Merely suspending the four cops is not enough. We want them to face legal action. We want compensation, too, for our losses," a trucker said.