Where is the parking space? Parking mayhem turns Nagpur’s busiest hub into a nightmare

 

 

 

The city’s busiest medical and educational hub is choking under parking crisis that shows no signs of easing. The stretch from Medical Square to Manewada Square, extending to the ST bus stand and Agyaram Devi Square, has virtually turned into an open-air parking lot, with footpaths and roadsides hijacked by vehicles. The area, home to a dense cluster of hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres, and institutions, attracts an overwhelming number of commuters daily, yet, it lacks basic parking infrastructure, leaving citizens, patients, students, and pedestrians caught in a daily grind of traffic chaos.

 

 

At Medical Square, the absence of official parking space forces vehicles onto roadsides and pavements.Two-wheelers, private cars, buses, and auto-rickshaws clog lanes, reducing road width and creating bottlenecks. During peak hours, navigating through this stretch becomes nothing short of a nightmare, with traffic jams, long delays, and endless honking. For pedestrians, poorly parked vehicles not only block sidewalks and intersections but also pose safety hazards, turning routine commutes into risky endeavours. Commuters and locals, caught in the middle of this gridlock, express their frustration.

 

“We have always seen vehicles parked on the side of the road, especially on footpaths as there is no designated place to park, we have no choice but to park this way,” said Nitin Lanjewar, a marketing agent who regularly commutes through Manewada and Medical Square. Even existing facilities fail to ease the mess. The VR Mall, equipped with its own parking lot, sees Swiggy and Zomato delivery riders occupy the footpaths outside the premises, cramming road space and worsening congestion. The situation spirals during weekends, when footfall at the mall surges, reducing the traffic through the stretch to a crawl. A similar scene unfolds near Zudio, where shoppers park indiscriminately on footpaths. The challenge multiplies as the same road houses a bus stop, forcing buses, two-wheelers, and pedestrians to squeeze through, often leading to gridlock.

 

The crisis deepens further near the ST bus stand and Agyaram Devi Chowk, where auto-rickshaws and even private buses are routinely parked on the road or footpaths. What follows is chaos, blocked lanes, stranded commuters, and traffic snarls that test the patience of even seasoned drivers. Near Manewada Road too, the story repeats itself, with the absence of regulated parking leading to identical troubles. A vendor near the ST bus stand minced no words. “Auto-rickshaws make nothing but ruckus here,” said the vendor. In the evening, the sight is unbearable. With no multi-level parking, no designated lots, and weak enforcement against encroachments, Nagpur’s most vital stretch continues to remain crippled. Until concrete measures are implemented, the city’s commuters and pedestrians may have to live with the reality of footpaths doubling as parking bays and roads doubling as gridlocks.