ISLAMABAD - In a bid to discourage wrong parking in markets and commercial areas of federal capital, considered a big impediment in smooth flow of traffic, Islamabad Traffic Police on Monday fined over 44 vehicles in its special campaign against parking violators.

The action was taken in main markets of Islamabad including G-9 Markaz, F-10 Markaz and Blue Area where 17 tickets were issued against no parking and 23 were issued for parking on van stops while four tickets were issued for parking on zebra crossings.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Farrukh Rashid and Superintendent of Police (SP) Sumera Azam were spearheading squads constituted to take prompt action against violators disrupting smooth flow of traffic causing inconvenience for commuters.

The SSP said that the action would be extended to other areas and important shopping centres, malls and business zones of the city. He urged the residents to cooperate with police by avoiding incorrect parking.

During the drive, parking area, illegally occupied by shopkeepers, were also being removed while their education teams also sensitised dwellers by holding traffic seminars, highlighting repercussions of the incorrect parking for commuters.

Meanwhile, the residents of capital demanded the authorities concerned to build more parking plazas in the city’s commercial units, terming it only an insight solution to deal with the issue. Citing shortage of space in the commercial areas, the residents deplored that the situation compelled them to park their vehicles on roads and linking streets.

Arsalan, a resident of F-7, said that multi-story parking plazas, as constructed in other cities of Punjab, was practical solution to the issue as huge number of vehicles could be accommodated in a small space.

A Working woman, Farwa Hassan, while criticising the authorities concerned said that commercial areas had been extended in the city without allocating land for parking vehicles ignoring the fact that numbers of vehicles was going up day by day.

Director Municipal Administration, Zafar Iqbal while talking on the issue said that his department was only mandated to auctions and executions of the parking areas.

The Planning department when contacted declined to comment, saying that every query must be raised in writing to seek an answer.

Zafar said that due to the Islamabad Metro Bus project, process of auctioning H-9 parking had lingered on; adding that F-7 parking area which had been stopped due to the concerns of trade unions would be auctioned soon.

Director Traffic Capital Development Authority (CDA) Azam Khan Lodhi held shop owners responsible for occupying parking place illegally in the city’s commercial areas.

The residents should be sensitised about traffic management system and handsome parking fee should be imposed for revenue generation that would be helpful for constructing new parking plazas, he said.

“The capital’s initial Master Plan is either completely violated or amended as commercial areas are being increased without allocating sufficient space for the parking, compromising the beauty of the city, once declared among the most beautiful cities of the world”, Babar Saleem, a social activist, said .