The officials say vehicles found illegally parked on the roads and public spaces will face strict action. About 60 food vans have been seized and 200 illegal shops removed so far.
The officials of Noida Authority have said that illegal parking of autorickshaws, e-rickshaws, cycle rickshaws, cabs and other vehicles will not be allowed on city roads and public spaces. Anyone violating this order shall be liable for penalty.
Noida Authority is also collaborating with city traffic police to remove encroachments from the roads. The first phase of this joint initiative will cover thoroughfare routes, especially the stretch from Sector 15 Metro Station to Botanical Garden, an official informed.
About 60 food vans have already been seized and over 200 shops have been removed, which were encroaching the roads.
The officials at the authority said that they are also working on encouraging people to use multilevel parking facility instead of parking their vehicles on the roads. “We are educating people about the rules of multilevel parking. The charges for multilevel parking have been kept lower than those for ground parking. Hopefully, all this will make multilevel parking a success,” a senior project engineer of Noida Authority stated.
Speaking to City Spidey, an official informed, “Our aim is to free busy traffic intersections in the city from illegal parking and encroachments. Some such traffic intersections include Model Town intersection at Sector 37, Gol Chakkar intersection, City Centre intersection and Botanical Garden Metro Station intersection.”
Meanwhile, the traffic chaos in Noida can also be attributed to the lack of traffic personnel. There are only 162 traffic cops and 50 traffic marshals covering 403 traffic signals.
According to the traffic department, there are more than 5,000 autorickshaws (three seaters), 1,000 shared autorickshaws (eight seaters), 5,000 cycle rickshaws and over 1,500 unauthorized e-rickshaws plying on the roads.
Bearing the brunt of the chaos are the residents who are always complaining of huge traffic jams. “Traffic congestion on the six-kilometres long stretch between Sector 15 Metro Station and Botanical Garden has made life miserable for commuters, especially during the peak hours,” said Arun Singh, a resident.
Commuters say that the drivers of three-wheelers are the biggest culprit. “They drive erratically and apply brakes suddenly, increasing the chances of accidents,” said a daily commuter.
Rahul Kumar Singh, another commuter, told City Spidey that while the city roads are wide enough, illegal parking and rampant encroachments have added to traffic snarls. “The situation is so bad right now that we need at least one traffic cop present at each intersection to ensure smooth vehicular movement,” he reiterated.
