In a reality check, TOI found vehicles parked illegally near prominent stations in the Lucknow.

LUCKNOW: With a rising number of people travelling by Metro now, a new problem has cropped up. There is no parking facility outside a number of prominent stations, leading to chaos for people who come in their personal vehicles to board the Metro. Many passengers are forced to park their vehicles on the road or footpath, leading to traffic bottlenecks.

Lucknow Metro Rail Corporation (LMRC) has provided parking facilities at 13 of 21 Metro stations. The eight stations left out are Hussainganj , Sachivalaya, Hazratganj, IT College, Charbagh, Lekhraj, Mawaiya and KD Babu Singh stadium.

In a reality check, TOI found vehicles parked illegally near all these Metro stations.

In Hazratganj, the heavy rush in the evening led to a chock-a-block traffic situation on Tuesday. It was not only commuters but even the Metro staff had parked vehicles on the roadside and on footpath near the entry gates, creating nuisance for pedestrians. Police did nothing to check those violating the rule. "There is no sign saying 'no-parking'. If this is illegal parking, the Metro should provide such signs. We have no other option other than to park our bikes here," said Parmish, who had come to pick his wife and daughter from the Metro station.

TOI also found that a couple of commuters had given up the idea of travelling by Metro due to unavailability of parking space. Worried that their vehicles would be towed away if they park in a no-parking zone, they wish to take no risk.

In Indiranagar , Sanjay Agarwal said, "My vehicle has been towed away a couple of times by police. They don't pay any attention to the fact that no parking space is available. I cannot risk this again to save a few minutes by Metro, so I don't take it."

Outside Lekhraj Metro station, businesswoman Anjali Gupta said, "I saw vehicles parked in front of Gate 1 and parked there. There was no sign warning otherwise."

In Hussainganj, Vishesh Jain said, "This area is already jammed due to heavy vehicular movement. Vehicles parked outside stations are eating into space on footpaths. But nobody is complaining because there is no other way out. Police act only when the situation is out of control."

At Mawaiya Metro station, Ashish Kashyap said, "The nearest station from my house is Mawaiya, which is 3km away. Several residents use the Metro but there is no parking here. We are forced to risk our vehicles by parking anywhere."

An LMRC official said, "We are planning to provide parking space in all stations left in the first place. Construction work will begin soon."

