GUWAHATI: A recent GPlus poll found that commercial areas of Guwahati severely lack spaces for the public.
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On November 2, GPlus posted a poll across its social media platforms, asking people if they think Guwahati has enough parking spaces in commercial areas.
Out of the 1172 responses, almost 94% voted 'No', signifying the severe lack of parking spaces for those visiting the local markets and commercial establishments in the city.
Many people reported that the problem is prevalent in not just commercial areas but in most areas of the city, including in hospitals and government offices.
An Instagram user Zahir Abbash stated, "even in case of emergency there is no parking in hospitals.. when you park it outside the hospital. Within 5 mins you get your ticket for no parking. While nobody visits DTO office to chill or to enjoy, every other person visiting DTO office have some purpose and interesting factor is that they don’t provide parking inside and when you park it outside they get you ticket for no parking. Where will people park their vehicles then? Government is taking road tax, each day dealers are selling cars but when it comes to parking there is no parking."
Another user named Nikhil expressed his frustration with the repeated challans and fines that are issued to vehicle owners for parking on the road. "Whatever little parking is there on the roads...they have put no parking signs and are clicking pictures and sending parking challans," he stated.
Another user named D Gogoi stated, "Are you kidding? Commercial vehicles from Uber, Ola has overcrowded Guwahati. Also, people use private vehicles instead of public. How will there be space for a small city like Guwahati."
Users of Facebook expressed similar feelings about the current state of parking conditions in Guwahati as 93% of users voted 'No'. Many also complained about two-wheelers that end up blocking the way for pedestrians by parking on the footpaths.
"Parking leave alone in commercial place it's not even available in road side also as there is vegetable stalls, Food stalls, Pan shops, and what not. I doubt if there is any road side parking available other then GS road," a user named Manab Gogoi stated.
On Twitter, almost 94.3% of users voted 'No', as one user pointed out the high parking fees in Fancy Bazar where vehicle owners are reportedly charged ₹50/hour.
The situation rings alarm bells as Guwahati has been witnessing rising traffic congestion, which is further exacerbated by illegal parking on the roads. However, the question begging an answer is : Where can we park our vehicles?