MUMBAI: Bombay high court has sought the state’s reply to a public interest litigation on the illegal and haphazard parking on roads that obstruct emergency vehicles, like ambulances and fire engines.
On March 7, a bench led by Justice Gautam Patel had observed that it is a common problem and referred to congestion on A, B, C, D roads in Churchgate while converting into a PIL a petition filed by Chembur’s Tilak Nagar Sargam society against the inaction of the authorities on its complaints.
On December 27, 2018, due to a short-circuit, a fire broke out in an 11th-floor flat of the society on Ganesh Udyan Road. Firemen struggled for “two-three hours” before the situation was brought under control. Five senior citizens died, and a fireman was injured. The fire brigade’s report said “car parking on both sides of the road near the building caused hindrance/obstruction for fire appliances to access the place of incident”.
In January 2021, the society wrote to Wadala regional transport officer seeking action, but they were directed to approach the local traffic police. Tilak Nagar RTO inspected the road and orally suggested they ask BMC to declare the road a no-parking zone. In February 2021, they wrote to M-West ward assistant municipal commissioner, but got no reply.
The petition said the society wrote that the road is about 18ft wide, excluding 10ft for footpaths, and 13-14 ft is available, but with illegal parking on both sides, there is hardly ‘5-8ft’ for other vehicles to move. The PIL has urged implementation of a parking policy for roads with width of 20ft or less to ensure no hindrance to emergency vehicles. On Monday, the society’s advocate Savina Crasto told Justices Ramesh Dhanuka and Makarand Karnik that a year after the petition was filed, no action was taken and no reply filed.
