Double standards of towing contractors in Municipal Commissioner’s favorite Hazratganj: Eyes closed on VIP road, strictness in narrow streets

These days, the arbitrariness of the parking and towing contractors of the Municipal Corporation is at its peak in Hazratganj, the historical and most important business road of the capital Lucknow. The dual character of towing and crane contractors deployed in the name of improving the traffic system in the busiest area of ​​the city has become a huge headache for the common citizens and local shopkeepers.

The most sensitive part of Hazratganj, i.e. the main road from Cafe Coffee Day (CCD) to ICICI Bank, is jammed with illegal parking of luxury vehicles and two-wheelers throughout the day. On this stretch, there is huge traffic jam every day during peak hours due to vehicles parked haphazardly on both sides of the road and even pedestrians do not have access to the road. The surprising thing is that the Municipal Corporation’s cranes do not even touch the vehicles that openly break the rules on this busy road, whereas the vehicles parked systematically in a quiet and wide space behind the Gandhi Ashram, located a few steps away, are picked up by the cranes within a few minutes.

Local businessmen and customers visiting Hazratganj say that the area behind Gandhi Ashram is such an area where generally there is neither any heavy traffic nor any kind of jam due to vehicles parked there. Despite this, towing contractors deliberately keep their entire focus on this area.

Citizens allege that the contractor’s employees stand in ambush and as soon as a person stops to buy any item at Gandhi Ashram or nearby shops for 5 to 10 minutes, the crane drivers immediately lift the vehicle and take it to the Municipal Corporation yard. There, in the name of getting the vehicle released, heavy fines and ridiculous towing charges are collected. Local people say that where there is actually a need to lift the vehicles (main road), the contractors remain silent, and where there is no problem with anyone, the target of challan and towing is being met.

When the victims and local citizens complained about this open favoritism and arbitrariness to the top officials of the Lucknow Municipal Corporation and the Municipal Commissioner, their attitude was also extremely disappointing. The complainants allege that instead of conducting an impartial investigation into the matter or reining in the contractor, the Municipal Commissioner instead started giving arguments in favor of the contractor.

This defensive attitude of the officials has further strengthened the apprehension of the citizens and businessmen that whether this whole game is being run in connivance with the municipal administration and private contractors? People directly allege that a big organized illegal extortion syndicate is working in the name of towing in a posh area like Hazratganj. Despite the cars of influential and influential people being parked on the main road (from CCD to the Bank), no action is taken against them, while common and middle class citizens are being made soft targets and forcibly collected fines from them.

The business organizations of Hazratganj have lodged a strong protest against this arbitrariness. Traders say that:

• Due to lack of adequate and convenient arrangement of legal multilevel parking in Hazratganj, people are often forced to park their vehicles on the roadside for a few minutes of work.

• The behavior of towing crane employees is extremely rude and violent with the general public.

• Due to this discriminatory action, the number of customers in the markets of Hazratganj is decreasing, which is negatively affecting the sales of the shops.

• If the Municipal Corporation has to improve the traffic system, then first of all the main road (from CCD to ICICI Bank) should be declared a completely no-parking zone and vehicles should be removed from there, so that the jam on the main road can be eliminated.

The people of Lucknow and social workers have now decided to raise this entire matter with the Chief Minister’s Office (Jansunwai Portal) and the Divisional Commissioner. Citizens demand that an impartial investigation should be conducted on the basis of CCTV footage of the work area of ​​towing contractors in Hazratganj. Also, it should be clarified why the cranes are active only behind Gandhi Ashram instead of on the main road. Unless the Municipal Corporation ends this double standard, the process of jam and public anger in the most prestigious market of the capital does not seem to be stopping.