The traffic wing of district police on Sunday launched a drive against those parking their vehicles on either side of the Bistupur Main Road in a bid to keep it free of congestion.

The traffic police have roped in private security guards belonging to Jusco for the initiative.

Over a dozen private security guards are carrying out the job of preventing vehicle owners from parking their vehicles along the road; if anyone defies their instructions, the security guards are asking the police to take necessary actions, which include fines or getting the vehicles towed to the Bistupur traffic police station.

The focus of the drive is the newly set up Bistupur Public Square where the rush of people, especially youngsters, is on the rise. As more and more youngsters are turning up at the square, an increasing number of vehicles is also getting parked wrongfully there.

Deputy superintendent of police (traffic) Shrivendra said: “Ideally, we would have kept the entire stretch of Bistupur Main Road free of congestion but currently, we are focusing on a 500m portion starting from Bata to Diagonal Road. No one will be allowed to park their vehicles in this stretch and if anyone is found violating the instruction, they will be penalised.”

He said vehicles would be towed away to Bistupur police station if they have been left in the no-parking zone. Apart from paying a penalty (of Rs 200 for two-wheelers and Rs 500 for four-wheelers), vehicle owners will also have to pay the towing cost.

People at the Public Square in Bistupur on Sunday. Animesh Sengupta

The opening of the square has meant that the responsibilities of the traffic police have increased.

“After the square started attracting crowds, the road in front of it also started getting congested because of the vehicles the visitors would park there. The Jusco management requested that the stretch from Bata to Diagonal Road be kept free of any parking. As there were only five cops at the Bistupur traffic police station, we requested Jusco, which is a Tata Steel subsidiary, to provide its security guards to work to address the issue of congestion. The Jusco management obliged by providing about a dozen guards for the job,” said Shrivendra.

However, those turning up at the square are finding it difficult to park their vehicles. This has forced some to drop their plans of visiting the place.

“Today being a Sunday, we had come here as we wanted to spend some time at the square before going for puja shopping. But due to the parking problem, we dropped our plans,” Tapas Sinha, a resident of Parsudih, told The Telegraph Online.