TRAFFIC congestion and unauthorised construction are not limited to Dhantoli, Congress Nagar and Ramdaspeth alone, but are a serious problem across the entire city, the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court observed on Tuesday. The court also expressed strong concern over the commercial misuse of parking spaces, especially by hospitals and questioned why strict penalties are not being imposed on violators. During the hearing, Justice Anil Kilor and Justice RajWakode orally stated that hospital parking spaces are being used for commercial purposes not only in Dhantoli, Congress Nagar and Ramdaspeth, but in many other parts of Nagpur as well.The court asked why the authorities should not collect fines at four times the commercial rate from those violating parking rules and carrying out unauthorised construction.

 

The court also referred to the report of a committee appointed earlier by the High Court, which had inspected the affected areas.The committee had recommended that fines at commercial rates should be collected from violators for at least one year. However, these recommendations have not been implemented so far.

 

 

THE court noted that a notification issued by the AssistantTraffic Commissioner regarding parking arrangements in Dhantoli was not being followed. In view of this, the High Court directed senior Advocate J B Gandhi to inspect the Dhantoli area and submit a report on the actual ground situation. Following the court’s direction, Adv Gandhi inspected Dhantoli and informed the court that the traffic system in the area has been badly disrupted. He stated that vehicles are parked on both sides of the road, causing severe congestion. One-way roads have effectively turned into two-way roads due to illegal parking.

 

Despite clear orders and notifications issued by the traffic police, the rules are not being followed, he told the court. Taking serious note of this, the High Court strongly criticised the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) and the Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Police. The court orally questioned why action should not be initiated against the concerned municipal and police officers for filing false affidavits claiming that the situation had improved. The bench asked Government advocate Adv Deepak Thakre to issue clear instructions to the concerned officials and explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against them. The matter has been posted for further hearing on Monday, February 16.

 

 

The court recalled that in earlier hearings, it had repeatedly passed orders to address traffic congestion and unauthorised construction in Dhantoli, Congress Nagar, and Ramdaspeth. However, the court observed that instead of improving, the situation has worsened. Adv Gandhi’s latest inspection confirmed that the problems remain unresolved even after multiple court directions. In a previous hearing, the High Court had also questioned why a fine of four times per square foot should not be imposed on encroachers in Dhantoli. The court had directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to submit relevant information. It had also raised the issue of whether fines could be imposed on hospitals that fail to provide adequate parking space as per rules. Despite some roads being officially declared one-way, they are no longer functioning as such due to rampant encroachments and illegal parking. The High Court noted that its orders are not being implemented effectively, which has resulted in continuous inconvenience to citizens, especially senior citizens and patients visiting hospitals.

 

 

The police department had stated in an affidavit that action would be taken against those violating parking and construction rules in Dhantoli. However, during his inspection, Adv Gandhi found that these rules were not being enforced. He informed the court orally, following which the court directed him to submit an affidavit. The High Court also questioned why parking spaces being used commercially, especially by hospitals, should not attract fines at four times the commercial rate. The court suggested issuing show-cause notices within a week to the concerned parties, asking them to explain why such fines should not be imposed. The court further observed that this problem is not limited to Dhantoli alone but is spread across the city. It orally directed that the Deputy Commissioner of Traffic Police should explain why action should not be taken against him for failing to enforce the court’s orders.