The Bengaluru city police is considering reintroducing towing of illegally parked vehicles in select areas, two years after the practice was discontinued following public complaints.
Following the inauguration of a museum at the Traffic Management Centre on Wednesday, January 30, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara disclosed that the city police have submitted a proposal to resume the exercise at 75 junctions across 22 high-density corridors.
Towing of vehicles from no-parking zones was halted in February 2022 after widespread complaints of irregularities. Many citizens alleged that vehicles were towed arbitrarily without following due procedures and that they were not provided challans for the fines imposed.
The Minister said that managing traffic was a challenge for the police in a city which had a human population of 1.4 crore and the total number of vehicles 1.2 crore.
“Each house has 4-5 vehicles. In addition, vehicles from the outskirts also come into the city and this poses a huge challenge for the city police. Despite these challenges, the city police are doing a good job of managing traffic compared to other cities,” he said.
On the police’s proposal to allow vehicles inside Cubbon Park on weekends and government holidays, the Minister said they would give the permission provided it was convenient to the public.
The Karnataka government recently decided to allow vehicular traffic inside Cubbon Park from 7 pm to 10 pm on the second and fourth Saturdays, citing efforts to ease congestion in the central business district.
Many are opposed to the move fearing that allowing traffic would harm the park’s biodiversity. Allowing the vehicles will also restrict the public from walking, cycling and skating etc, they fear.