Park smart or pay dearly on 11 ‘zero-tolerance roads’

Ahmedabad: Parking a vehicle casually along some of the city’s busiest roads in the east and the west may soon prove costly. The AMC has rolled out a “zero-tolerance” strategy covering 11 major roads, with penalties of up to Rs 3,000 for illegal parking. The initiative is part of a broader plan to improve traffic flow, road safety and public discipline.The move is part of the “Comprehensive Policy to Address Issues of Traffic, Road Safety, Encroachment and Cattle Menace for Ahmedabad City”, aimed at easing traffic bottlenecks and ensuring smoother movement on major corridors. Of the 11 roads identified, 10 are located in the western part of the city, including SG Highway, CG Road and Judges Bungalow Road, while one road falls in the eastern zone. Officials said the selected corridors witness heavy traffic volumes and frequent congestion caused by indiscriminate parking and roadside encroachments.The civic body has begun implementing a “Comprehensive Policy to Address Issues of Traffic, Road Safety, Encroachment, and Cattle Menace for Ahmedabad City“ to alleviate traffic congestion and enhance road safety. Under this new policy, 10 roads in the western area, including SG Highway, CG Road, and Judges Bungalow Road, have been declared zero-tolerance roads (ZTR), along with one road in the eastern area.Under the proposed framework, illegal parking on zero-tolerance roads will attract significantly higher penalties. Two-wheeler owners may be fined Rs 1,500 during peak hours and Rs 1,000 during non-peak hours. For four-wheelers, the proposed penalties are Rs 3,000 during peak hours and Rs 2,000 during off-peak hours.The civic body is also planning differential on-street parking charges. Fees are proposed to range from Rs 30 to Rs 60 for two-wheelers and Rs 50 to Rs 100 for four-wheelers, depending on parking demand and location.To ensure compliance, estate department teams will be deployed to keep the roads free from encroachments, and repeated violations will invite stricter action. Motorists will be directed to designated on-street parking facilities and available multi-level parking complexes, rather than parking vehicles haphazardly on road shoulders. Higher fees will apply to on-street parking.AMC officials said commercial buildings and private complexes along these roads will be encouraged to open their parking facilities to the public under a parking-sharing model. Property tax incentives are proposed to encourage participation. Surveys of commercial complexes on the identified roads have already been completed.The civic body has also prepared parking plans for three western city zones. It is developing a pilot parking management plan for Sindhu Bhavan Road. While Rajpath Rangoli Road and Bopal-Ambli Road were initially considered for inclusion on the zero-tolerance list, they were later excluded.Ahmedabad’s parking policy received state govt approval in Oct 2021, followed by parking bylaws in 2023. Two agencies are currently assessing parking demand, existing capacity, unauthorised parking patterns and future requirements. The exercise will also identify additional on-street parking spaces, declare no-parking stretches and determine area-specific parking fees based on vehicle type and usage patterns.