Valley
New ‘wheel clamp’ campaign books 213 motorists in a week
The latest ‘wheel clamp’ drive introduced by the traffic police has issued 213 tickets to motorists who had haphazardly parked their vehicles on various road sections in the Kathmandu Valley.Anup Ojha
The latest ‘wheel clamp’ drive introduced by the traffic police has issued 213 tickets to motorists who had haphazardly parked their vehicles on various road sections in the Kathmandu Valley.
The Kathmandu Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD) introduced the drive last Sunday to lessen the increasing congestion in the capital city. Traffic police say that with the new drive in place, the haphazard parking of two wheelers in the metropolis has decreased. The roads of Kathmandu are notorious for haphazard parking, and it not uncommon to see vehicles parked in the middle of a
busy road or even in zebra crossings, causing jams and completely blocking pedestrian movement.
“The drive has become very effective. After we introduced this drive, it has highly discouraged motorists to park randomly on the road,” said Chief of MTPD SSP Basant Kumar Panta.
Once the motors are found parked in an undesignated area, traffic police on duty attach a wheel clamp on the vehicle’s wheel and paste an awareness leaflet on the driver’s vehicle door that reads ‘unauthorised parking wheel clamping in operation’. The driver will be given a receipt for a fine, which he has to clear before claiming his vehicle. The MTPD has been charging rule violators Rs 1,000 as fine, along with a one-hour mandatory class.
At present, the MTPD has been making use of 120 wheel clamps in all its 40 units in the Valley. The spokesperson at the Division Jay Raj Sapkota said the MTPD needs at least additional 200 extra such ‘wheel lockers’ to discourage illegal parking across the Valley.
On an average, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City in association with MTPD has been lifting at least 40 two-wheelers parked haphazardly on the road every day. The KMC has deployed 11 police officers along with two trucks for the campaign. Five other traffic police officials will join the group soon.
Although the authority has been picking up haphazardly parked two-wheelers
in the city for a long time, there weren’t any specific means to punish the rule violators. “This move will definitely help reduce traffic hassle in our metropolis and make drivers more alert while parking their vehicles,” said Sapkota.