'Legalise parking of vehicles in front of houses during night by paying fees to KMC'

KOLKATA: Debasish Kumar, who heads the Parks and Gardens department of Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) has urged the councilors to take up awareness in their respective wards among the people who park their own vehicles on the road in front of their residences during night to legalise the same by paying parking fees to the civic body.

Kumar expressed his dissatisfaction over councilors making phone calls to him urging him to take measures of immediately releasing of such seized vehicles for illegal parking during night time .

"You are carrying awareness regarding dengue on a regular basis in your wards. I will ask the councilors to include awareness for regularising night parking against payment of fees to the civic body rather than calling me up for release of cars after they are clamped for illegal parking,"Kumar said in response to a query from ward 121 councillor Rupak Ganguly from Behala during the monthly meeting of KMC on Tuesday.

It has been found that car owners who do not have garage space park vehicles in front or close to their houses at night.

Many of them take permission from KMC against a monthly parking fee of Rs 500 per month (usually a year's fee is paid at a time) and the latter provide them stickers that ensures legal parking.

However, the civic body conducts night drives in the city and when a vehicle is caught for illegal parking a fine of Rs 1000 is imposed for the same.