Parking prohibited in KMC areas around schools till 3 pm: Cops

kolkata: Kolkata Traffic Police has decided not to allow parking of cars in Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) parking places, which are located around schools in the city till 3 pm in the afternoon, in order to reduce the traffic congestion as much as possible.

It has also been decided that the KMC parking places will be used for drop and pick-up of students.

During the starting of school hours, major traffic snarls take place in front of the schools that are mostly located in and around Park Circus area. Near Don Bosco Island in Park Circus, major traffic snarl takes place during the school hours. Often the queue of the cars reach near Park Circus bridge number 4 on Darga Road as cops keep clear the Surawardy Avenue so that the Park Circus Seven Point function normally as it is a vital spot of the city. Also, several schools are located on AJC Bose road around Minto Park and one on Syed Amir Ali Avenue.

Though additional traffic police personnel are deployed regularly in the said areas, major problem that cops face is cars carrying students being parked near schools leading to traffic congestion.

To overcome the problems, police has already started asking the drivers of the cars carrying students not to stay all day.

Police are often seen requesting the car owners or drivers to drop the students and leave.

Pandey Santosh, Joint Commissioner of Police (Jt. CP), Traffic said that the KMC parking area would be used for the pick-up and drop purposes. However, no cars carrying students will be allowed to park and wait for the end of the school in those places.

"The decision has been taken to reduce traffic congestion. It will help us to maintain smooth flow of traffic as well as students will not have to face difficulties as they can wait at the designated places from where the cars will pick them up," he added.

Recently, police requested the guardians to avail pool cars for the students which will not only reduce the traffic congestion but also cut down air pollution.

Police have put up notices in front of the schools urging guardians to avail pool cars for daily commute of their children to the schools. The notices by Kolkata Traffic Police read: "It's Cool, Use Car Pool." This initiative comes after days of the police implementing no-parking zones in school areas during the school hours—7 am to 2 pm—as well as other regulations. They banned parking at areas covering AJC Bose Road, Loudon Street, Rawdon Street and Park Street area. Apart from this, the parents were allowed to drop and pick their children from near the school gates at a fixed time.

The maximum time for pickups at important crossings will be 10 minutes.

People will be fined for unnecessary honking. Similar changes were initiated at Diamond Harbour Road. The Thakurpukur traffic guard convinced the Public Works Department (PWD) officials to increase the width of the road by 2.5 feet on both sides. From this week, a separate parking area will also be allotted for the pool cars.