Illegal parking outside Ooty Railway station leading to traffic snarls

Illegal parking outside Udhagamandalam Railway Station causes traffic disruptions, leading to calls for increased parking space and enforcement.

Illegal parking of vehicles outside the Udhagamandalam Railway Station and the traffic disruptions it causes have led to several motorists raising the issue.

While there is a limited amount of parking space within the railway station, and new parking areas are being constructed, tourists complain that the available parking space is simply inadequate and that they are forced to park their vehicles outside the railway station.

S. Venkatesan, a resident of Good Shed Road, said that the road in front of the railway station was already extremely narrow, and that illegal parking along it contributed to massive traffic jams especially during busy weekends.

“This is a very important stretch connecting to the Ooty-Gudalur Road, and serves as a key route for tourists heading towards Ooty Lake and Boat House as well as the municipal market. while also being used by tourists to reach the Ooty lake and Boat House as well as the municipal market. So any blockage on this road will affect traffic across the town,” he said.

K. Natarajan, the founder of the Heritage Steam Chariot Trust, stated that claims regarding inadequate parking space at the railway station are inaccurate. “At any given time, there are only a few hundred tourists departing to Mettupalayam or arriving from there. A similar number also uses the services to Coonoor,” he explained. He also noted that private bus operators are permitted to stop within the railway station premises, which further limits the space available for tourist vehicles.

Officials from the Udhagamandalam Railway Station stated that even if there was parking space available, that some tourists, private tour operators and cab drivers prefer to not use it in order to avoid parking fees. “As a result, they park the vehicles along the main road, leading to traffic jams along the stretch,” said the official.

G. Janardhanan, President of the Ooty Public Awareness Association, said that the Nilgiris district police needed to clamp down on illegal parking along the stretch. He said that if the amount of parking space available was inadequate, efforts must be taken to find a suitable alternative space nearby.