Police watch as Lake Gardens flyover turns into parking lot

Kolkata: ���No parking on the bridge���, say the signs clearly. A few feet away is a police kiosk with two uniformed policemen on duty, day and night. All around it, and right next to the no-parking signs that glow in the dark, stand cars - each of them parked illegally. Welcome to Lake Gardens flyover.
It is a sight that would leave an outsider bewildered.Whoever heard of parking on a flyover? But in Kolkata, where traffic jams on these elevated speedways are an everyday ordeal, this illegal act was just one step away. The roads, lanes, bylanes, pavements, petrol pumps and even parks have been taken over anyway.
Lake Gardens flyover is one of the newest and busiest in the city. It was meant to ensure fast and uninterrupted traffic flow between Southern Avenue and Prince Anwar Shah Road, but vehicles have to slow down and carefully negotiate the rows of cars parked on it, from one end to the other and even on the curves. Members of nearby clubs have turned it into a parking lot.
With winter setting in and the city warming up to the festive season, more and more cultural programmes are being organized at these clubs. And the congestion on the flyover is getting worse by the hour.
On Friday, when TOI asked the police personnel if parking was allowed on the flyover, one of them promptly said: ���We don���t interfere with the parking. If you have come to the club, you can park anywhere you want.���
The parking queue starts from the stretch near Lake Club and Bengal Rowing Club and continues till the Lake Gardens railway level crossing. On the flyover, it turns with the curve towards Prince Anwar Shah Road. While drivers change gears and take their time to park the cars, traffic slows down on the flyover. The crawl hits Sarat Bose Road and Southern Avenue. That���s the situation all day.
Senior police officers agree that this cannot go on. ���Flyovers are public property. No vehicle can be parked there. It is not only a traffic menace but also a potential security hazard. We will investigate the matter and ensure that illegal parking is curbed. It is disappointing that educated people are encroaching on public spaces,��� said K R Hari Rajan, additional commissioner, Kolkata traffic police.
When TOI approached Lake Club general secretary Subrato Guha on the issue, he refused to comment, only saying: ���The club doesn���t keep track of cars parked by its members and guests. It is for police to find out.��� But Binod Khaitan, committee member of Bengal Rowing Club, was more forthcoming on the issue. ���Due to lack of parking space our members and guests often end up parking on the flyover. The club has been asking KIT for parking land but we are yet to hear from them and thus the inconvenience to the people and ourselves,��� Khaitan said.
Another member of the club said that members were forced to park on the flyover because the only parking space inside the club has been taken over by a gate. ���We have no option but to park the cars on the flyover. We do realize the problem, but what can we do?��� he asked.
Chandan Roy Choudhary, honorary secretary of Bengal Rowing Club, had something different to say: ���We have enough parking space for members and guests. We have made it clear to them that no vehicle should be parked on the flyover or the road connecting it.���
Lake police station flatly denied the charge. OC Debashis Baidya said he ���refused to believe��� that cars were parked on the flyover, not even when told that TOI has photographs to prove it. ���They are only parked near the lake,��� he said.
MMiC, parking, Faiyaz Ahmed Khan said: ���Police should be more vigilant. We shall investigate the matter.���