According to a media report, the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) has decided to penalise motorists that violate the parking regulations imposed by authorities. Currently in Mumbai, the Traffic Police enforces and issues fines to the motorists for illegal parking and not the BMC. According to the new regulation, the penalty amount that would be applicable will range from INR 1,000 to upto INR 10,000 and will be imposed in the form of e-challans.
The hefty fine amount has been levied to strongly discourage offenders which cause an inconvenience to other motorists, pedestrians and more importantly emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire engines. The past is witness to many such instances where an emergency vehicle is not able to make it to the site in time because of illegally parked vehicles.
The authorities were firm on imposing a INR 10,000 fine but, it was later decided to be graded according to the severity of the offence such as the size of the vehicle, the location and the area where the vehicle is illegally parked. Currently, the BMC has been reported to have 146 pay-and-park areas in different parts of the city where about 30,000 cars and 4,000 bikes can be parked.
The BMC will use the sections 314 for encroachment and sections 381 for causing nuisance, under the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act to implement the rules and is reported to be effective from 7th July 2019. Ward officials have been asked to hire the necessary machines to tow away the vehicles and have also been asked to appoint contractors with at least one person in the staff from former military service to enforce the rule.
As far as the parking situation goes in the densely populated city, with due respect, the corporation must first provide a solution by creating more parking spaces before enforcing the new law. Of course, offenders need to be penalised.