Illegal parking along busy stretches in the commercial hubs of Sakchi and Bistupur are causing a lot of inconvenience to commuters.

Parking rogues have encroached upon the vacant space along the nearly 300m long stretch on Sakchi-Kalimati Road, which was widened by Tata Steel subsidiary Jusco in November last year. A one-way traffic system was introduced on the stretch soon after that.

Similarly, the over 200m no-parking zone along Bistupur Main Road is lined with stationary vehicles, making it difficult for commuters to negotiate the stretch.

“We were very happy when Sakchi-Kalimati Road was widened and traffic movement was made one-way on the stretch. There is sufficient space for parking vehicles not far from the road. But people prefer to keep their vehicles along the road while shopping. This triggers traffic congestion during peak hours. We have approached police and the Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee with the issue, but the action taken by them against the offenders is not enough to instil fear in them,” Sakchi-based trader Vijay Anand Moonka, who is also the senior functionary of Singhbhum Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), said.

Commuters in Bistupur are hassled as well.

“The no-parking zone along Bistupur Main Road is lined with four-wheelers and two-wheelers. Unfortunately, the towing-away exercise is not done regularly. Therefore, people are not afraid of flouting rules. Yesterday (Friday), a parked SUV nearly hit my bike while backing up,” said Ashutosh Ojha, a private banker in Bistupur.

Sources in Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC) said their focus was now rivetted on keeping the city clean in view of the upcoming Swachh Survekshan 2020 and this is the reason they were not being able to enforce the parking rules strictly.

“Our focus is currently on waste management. The Swachh Survekshan assessors should be impressed. All our city managers are busy in these efforts and enforcing parking rules have taken a backseat,” a JNAC official said.

JNAC special officer Krishna Kumar admitted that greater emphasis was being laid improving the city’s ranking in Swachh Survekshan survey, but claimed that they would start towing away illegally parked vehicles in both Sakchi and Bistupur.

“We are a bit tied up with Swachh Survekshan, but we would start towing away vehicles that are illegally parked in Sakchi and Bistupur soon,” Krishna Kumar said.

Deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Shivender Kumar traffic police in Sakchi and Bistupur did carry out the towing away exercise depending on the availability of manpower.