Jaipur: The Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) has issued orders to remove illegal encroachments from Parking areas of all commercial buildings such as malls, hospitals, colleges, shopping complexes to increase parking space.

The JDA’s order aims to resolve an issue that has long plagued the city’s busy and narrow lanes for years. In areas like JLN Marg, Shakar Marg, C-Scheme and Raja Park, commercial complexes have leased out their earmarked parking spaces to small shops and Kiosks. In other places, kiosks and vendors have encroached upon pavements and Parking Areas outside government buildings.

If the owners fail to abide by the order, hefty penalties would be imposed on offenders.

The latest order comes in the wake of traffic police complaining about lack of proper parking space in commercial buildings. “The new rule would help traffic in areas like Tonk Road and parts of Gopalpura where there are many commercial outlets,” said a Jaipur police official.

The Tonk Road stretch is reportedly the most vulnerable to encroachments and parking problems as there are over two dozen leading shopping complexes, sweet shops and malls. None of the commercial establishments here have proper parking provisions for customers.

Traffic here becomes particularly difficult to manage, especially during evening and festive times, when citizens jostle for space to park their vehicles. Many a time, customers have been found to be seen parking their vehicles on the road.

“Last month, a resident welfare association (RWA) complained that residential areas were also affected by illegal parking,” said the official.

Some of the leading malls and shopping complexes have earmarked adequate underground parking spaces as per building rules. Other outlets have provided valet parking to allow smooth flow of traffic. But many commercial establishments have not followed these building norms.

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The city has been facing parking ‘woes’ for many years now. Part of the problem lies in the failure of civic bodies to regulate building permission norms. As per rules, all commercial areas must have spaces for parking vehicles. The traffic problem is not limited to commercial establishments. In fact, with the proliferation of private vehicles, heated arguments between residents over parking have become common. RTO rules state that one must file an affidavit on whether a house owner has parking space inside his or her house. But many owners flout this rule and park their vehicles outside.