Jammed roads, no parking space leave parents fuming at Sector 26 in Chandigarh

Parents who come to pick their children between 1-2 pm are the worst hit by the daily traffic chaos. Parents claim they have raised concerns about lack of parking facilities and clear instructions from traffic police but to no avail. Of late, the traffic police has started issuing challans randomly to vehicles parked on the roads as well.

The situation has been exacerbated by the recent closure of a large area near Strawberry Fields High school, where parents used to earlier park their vehicles. The land belongs to the government and is no longer available for parking now.

HB Vishwakarma, who was waiting to pick his child from school, said that neither the school nor the administration are doing anything to find a solution and the general public is facing the brunt. Vikram Kapoor, another parent, said that the space in front of the school is not occupied, so why not provide that space for paid parking.

Similarly, Harpreet Kaur, another parent, said, “I have to come two hours prior to get the space that too on road”. Rajan, who had also come to get his children, alleged that the traffic police is not doing their duty properly and called it “a clear case of miscommunication between the school and the administration”.

Traffic police personnel at the spot said they are following orders from above and are not responsible for solving the issue. “We also want this situation to get fixed, but it is out of our league to take any action,” said Amit Kumar, a traffic police personnel on duty.

Nisha Kaul, principal, Strawberry Fields High School, said that the school administration has written to the city administration to provide the land for paid parking. “We have taken multiple initiatives for safety of the students. It is our utmost priority. We have even changed the timing due to high volume of traffic. We are waiting for a response from the authority,” she added.