look news india
The towing campaign of the Municipal Corporation, which is going on in the name of traffic improvement in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, is now surrounded by huge controversies and serious allegations. There is strong anger among the general public and local businessmen of the city as to why the Municipal Commissioner and the Municipal Corporation administration are using this baton only on selected places and common citizens. Under the guise of rules, while crane contractors are filling their pockets by lifting vehicles from outside the big malls of the city, the mysterious silence of the officials on the horrific traffic jams outside the big private hospitals and the illegal encroachment going on right under the nose of the Municipal Corporation headquarters itself is raising many serious questions.
The biggest question being raised on the functioning of towing contractors in the capital is their double standards. The narrow lanes and roads around major commercial centers such as Lulu Mall, Phoenix Palacio and Fun Republic are immediately declared as “VIP Routes”. The cranes of the contractors lift the two-wheeler and four-wheeler vehicles of the common people here in the blink of an eye.
But in stark contrast, the view outside the city’s two major medical institutions—Medanta Hospital and Chandan Hospital—tells something different. Hundreds of unauthorized vehicles are parked for hours on the main road outside these hospitals, due to which even the ambulances carrying serious patients get stuck in severe traffic jams. There is an open allegation by the general public that do these hospitals not come under the purview of VVIP area? The Municipal Corporation’s statement that no special order has been given to lift the vehicles outside these hospitals, points towards the collusion of the officials and alleged kindness towards big institutions.
The hollowness of the impartiality of the administration is completely exposed when one looks at the streets right next to the Municipal Corporation headquarters.
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Illegal decorations near the headquarters: Despite huge ‘No Parking’ boards being put up on the roads adjacent to the headquarters boundary, denting, painting and decoration of cars is done openly by occupying the footpaths and roads.
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Hell of traffic jam in Lalbagh: No-parking warning boards are installed at every step in the busy market of Lalbagh, but no towing contractor has the courage to touch the vehicles parked there haphazardly.
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The direct allegation of the local citizens is that due to the alleged dealings and nexus of ‘sweet boxes’ with the operators of these major markets and hospitals, the eyes of the officials are closed, while the entire lesson of rules and regulations is taught only to the helpless common public.
The city’s enlightened citizens, social workers and drivers have now started demanding a high-level inquiry into this entire nexus at the government level. The public says that an impartial investigation should be conducted by Vigilance into the contracts signed between the Municipal Commissioner and private towing firms, the daily recovery from towing and the unfair protection given to contractors.
A demand is being made that the details of disproportionate assets of the responsible top officials of the Municipal Corporation should be scrutinized, so that it can be made clear on whose instructions this selected scope of rules is being decided. Unless a uniform parking policy is implemented in all areas of the capital – be it a VVIP mall, a big private hospital or the Municipal Corporation office itself – the anger among the public about this administrative duplication does not seem to stop.