Mumbai: The Bombay high court has asked the state and petitioner of a PIL to conduct a fresh survey of the congested areas of south Mumbai like Kalbadevi and Bhuleshwar among others to ascertain the problems with regard to traffic and illegal parking. The state in an affidavit assured the court that it had started an ongoing exercise of removing permanently parked vehicles from the said areas. The petitioner however claimed that the efforts by the traffic department were not sufficient to alleviate the problems especially for pedestrians. The court also recommended some solutions to counter the problem.
A division bench of Justice Naresh Patil and Justice Anuja Prabhudessai was hearing a public interest litigation filed by an activist claiming that some roads in the busy business hubs of south Mumbai had become inaccessible not only for vehicular traffic but also for pedestrians due to permanent parking on both sides of the roads. The petition further informed the court that the problem got aggravated during business hours as tempos and trucks were parked for loading and unloading of goods as a result of which entire stretches of roads become unpliable.
While replying to earlier directions of the bench, government pleader Poornima Kantharia informed the court that the traffic police had started concerted efforts to deter parking on the subject roads. She further said that the efforts were heightened during peak hours but the same could not be implemented effectively as it affected the businesses. The petitioner, however, refuted the claims and said that the problem for pedestrians and motorists persisted.
After hearing the submissions, the court directed the petitioner to produce pictorial evidences pertaining to their claims and also suggested a few solutions to the state.
