Surat: Next time you park your car on roadside on the stretch from Athwa Gate to Makkai Pul, traffic cops will put a wheel lock on it and you will be made to cough up hefty fine.In order to curb traffic jams during peak hours and haphazard parking between Athwa Gate and Makkai Pul, city police have started a drive against car owners illegally occupying both sides of the road.This stretch houses Surat Urban Development Authority (SUDA) and other key government offices in Bahumali building. The stretch from Navadi Ovara to Makkai Pul has Lalbhai Contractor building, several banks, a higher secondary school and offices of Southern Gujarat Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SGCCI), Sales Tax department and Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation.Except for Bahumali building, none of the establishments has enough parking facility to accommodate cars or two-wheelers. Even SGCCI headquarters at Makkai Pul has a small parking space for two-wheelers and four-wheelers are parked on both sides of the road. The drive by the city police started a few days ago seeks to curb menace of haphazard parking from Athwa Gate to Makkai Pul. At least 12 cops, including traffic brigade personnel, have been deployed to ensure the road is clear of four-wheeler parking.Sagar Dandvate, a realtor, who owns an office in Lalbhai Contractor building in Nanpura, said, “From last few days, city police are not allowing us to park our cars on the roadside. Hence, my driver drops me at the office and parks the vehicle at my house. We are not at fault because parking facility was not created at the time of building’s construction.”A majority of working committee members of SGCCI, who used to arrive in their cars, have opted for two-wheelers. The president of SGCCI and other office-bearers arrive in their cars which are parked at the multi-level parking of Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) at Nanpura.SGCCI president Hetal Mehta told TOI, “SGCCI office-bearers and members support the drive taken up the city police. I park my car in the multi-level parking and then walk down to the office. Majority of the members now come to SGCCI on two-wheelers.”Mehta added, “I will be meeting municipal commissioner to ask him to provide us some space to create parking facilities for our vehicles. A couple of years ago, district collector had approved parking facilities for us on the banks of river Tapi, but irrigation department rejected the proposal.”A police officer said, “We won’t allow anybody to park on road from Athwa Gate to Makkai Pul. If found, vehicles will be clamped with wheel locks and owners need to pay fine.”

Stay updated with all the Latest Surat headlines here. For more exclusive & live news updates from all around India, stay connected with NYOOOZ.