Visakhapatnam: Lack of parking space irks road users

Visakhapatnam: Scores of people visit commercial establishments to cater to their daily needs. But most of these establishments lag behind in providing a parking space to the visitors.

In many commercial complexes, the cellar space has been converted into a business unit. As a result, there is no dedicated parking space for the vehicles. Those arriving at the units have no other choice but to park their vehicles on the roads.

This has led to serious traffic chaos in busy junctions across the city as people continue to park their vehicles right in front of the business units or near the footpaths or on the roads, narrowing down the traffic flow.

At Aadhaar Seva Kendra located in Dwarakanagar first lane, the situation has become worse as hundreds of people visit to update their Aadhaar cards and utilise other services. The multi-storey building where the centre is located houses a number of commercial units as well. Considering the footfalls swelling each day at the centre, the complex management refuses to allow the visitors to park their vehicles at the cellar dedicated for the purpose. Except those working in the establishment housed in the complex, the rest of the people are not allowed to park their vehicles at the cellar. Those thronging the centre park their vehicles on either side of the road. During busy hours, passing through the lane turns out to be horrendous experience for the commuters.

The situation is not any better in the rest of the lanes at Dwarakanagar. The main road attached to these lanes witness heavy traffic flow. With the connecting lanes suffering from traffic bottlenecks, its impact is reflected on the main road as well. When asked about the prolonged traffic congestions, the traffic police mentioned that measures will be taken to look into the traffic woes in various junctions. "The focus will be on clearing the cellars at commercial complexes and easing the traffic congestion at the earliest," says Ch Adi Narayana, ADCP (Traffic).

While some of the complexes do not have a parking facility in the cellar, others are not using the facility meant for the purpose. Unless an intense drive is initiated to address the issue, traffic woes continue to mount in several parts of Visakhapatnam.