Sir,

Star of Mysore is doing all it can to highlight the worsening traffic situation in our city. There have been several suggestions from readers in your paper besides those made in person during the monthly (on every third Saturday) interaction with the public. Alas, none or not many get implemented and even if a few are indeed done, their effects are not visible.

Take for example the implementation of erecting ‘NO-PARKING’ signboards and the subsequent action of towing away, especially the two-wheelers parked in such zones and collection of fine. Firstly these signboards do not properly show the direction (is it on either side of the signboard or only to one side, and if so which side) of its jurisdiction and also the distance from the board up to which it is applicable. This leads to a lot of arguments while claiming back the vehicle from its pound. The fine collecting non-uniformed person does not see any merit in the argument of the vehicle owner.

Since the towing away service is contracted to some agency (which I am sure would have got the contract by investing heavily) which is usually hell bent on recovering the returns by towing away some of the vehicles even if they are far away from the signboard. They seem to do this job with a cynical élan and the effect is on the unsuspecting common vehicle riders. The uniformed Policeman who sits in the cabin of the ‘Tiger’ vehicle does not intervene but merely helps the towing agency. I have witnessed that the same ‘Tiger’ vehicle not towing away scores of vehicles parked right under the ‘No Parking’ board in front of some reputed establishments such as malls, departmental stores. Auto rickshaws and Govt. vehicles flout the rules openly.

I have taken up the issue by making a complaint with pictures to show the differences in no parking signposts and have requested the Traffic Police to correct the error and also to carry-out campaigns to educate the public. However, there seems to be no visible effect.

You can see the photographs published here for clarity. The issue is being passed on from the Traffic Police to RTO which, as I understand, gets these sign posts made, again by giving a contract to some agency and obviously no check on the quality of work is done. Can we expect the newly elected MLAs of the city to come to the rescue of the citizens by ensuring proper implementation of the policy?

– (Retd. Prof.) B.S. Shankara, Ramakrishnanagar, 7.06.2018

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