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We will not allow parents to park outside the school on Residency road. They can only drop their children to school and return KV Jagadeesh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic East)

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Menon

By Pragna L Krupa* They may be a decade late but nobody’s complaining* Traffic police started enforcing the no-parking rule around schools from Tuesday; initially, it will warn motorists; after a week, a penalty of Rs 1,000 will be imposedResidency Road, when schools let off, is not for the faint hearted. If you want to see vehicular chaos, this is a fine example. With nearly four schools within a half a kilometre radius, and about 8000 students being let off from school at around the same time, not to mention school staff, private cars and bikes of parents who come to pick up their children, school vans, buses and autos, and regular traffic, Residency Road between 2.30 and 4.00 pm comes to a grinding halt.This is made worse by the haphazard parking, in two to three lines, by drivers of school vans, buses, autos and private cars. For more than a decade, the city police are claiming to have introduced the `safe road to school’ project, but there has been no respite for commuters on Residency road. In fact, the traffic jam causes a vehicular pile up that extends all the way to the Richmond circle flyover.Finally, there may be some relief for motorists if the traffic police continue to act tough in this area, as they did on Tuesday. The traffic police were out inon Residency Road on Tuesday, putting up barricades and tying straps to bar parents from parking vehicles near the school. Even those buses which were parked on the road to pick up students were forced to enter the school compound. This worked like a charm on Tuesday and traffic was well regulated and flowed smoothly.Tuesday’s action by the police was also an indication that with good enforcement of traffic rules, CBD can be decongested. Traffic police say that this will continue henceforth.Deputy Commissioner of Police (traffic East), KV Jagadeesh said, “We will not allow parents to park outside the school on Residency road. They can only drop their children to school and return. Few parents and drivers of school buses would park their vehicles near schools on the main road and wait from morning till evening for schools to be let off. We have forced all the buses to move from the spot and find alternate parking space to park their vehicles.”Jagadeesh also added that most of the problems occur when parents and drivers come to pick up the students in the evening. “They reach the spot half an hour before school leaving time and park their vehicles in double and triple lines which creates a traffic jam. We are not going to permit this anymore,” added Jagadeesh.A senior officer said that this action is being implemented after considering the traffic problems as well as the safety of school children. “The school buses used to park their vehicles on the main roads during peak hours which was causing a traffic pile up. School children would come out of the school premises and then get into the buses. We have asked the buses to park inside the school so that traffic on the main road can move smoothly. We have started implementing this from Tuesday and the traffic seemed to flow freely.”The senior traffic police official also said that police had put up barricades and no parking boards on the main road to prevent school buses and private cars from parking on the road. He said, “First we are spreading awareness and asking the buses and cars to move. After two to three days, we’ll start implementing strict fines on vehicles if they continue to park in this area.”The officer added that after July 20, the revised fines would be implemented. So far Rs 100 was being charged for parking violations, but now, vehicles parking in the no parking zone will be fined Rs 1000.Raghu, an employee at a private company said that he had been using this stretch for over a decade now and the traffic had always been bad. “Riding on that stretch during morning and afternoon is a nightmare. It takes at least 20 to 30 minutes to get past that area. Not only cars and school vans, even autos park on the road waiting for customers,” he said.Venu Gopal, a bank employee said that the traffic police should implement this strictly and it should not be for a short period only. “If the schools and the public co-operate, then the vehicular movement will be smooth and we won’t have to avoid this stretch,” he said.