Top Court asks Gujarat Govt. to carve out policies to resolve problem of parking/traffic

Read Order: RAHULRAJ MALL CO-OP. SERVICE SOCIETY LIMITED vs. STATE OF GUJARAT & ORS

Pankaj Bajpai

New Delhi, September 3, 2021: While dealing with the issue of traffic problem in the State of Gujarat, the Supreme Court has recently asked the State Government to come out with a policy which shall be binding on all the Corporations and to see to it that problem of parking/traffic is resolved.

A Division Bench of Justice M.R Shah and Justice Aniruddha Bose observed that traffic problem in the metropolitan cities in the State of Gujarat is a very serious issue because of non-availability of public parking and even sufficient parking spaces in the malls and other markets.

The counsel for the State submitted that a policy decision has been taken by the State Government to adopt the parking policy adopted by the Surat Municipal Corporation and there cannot be any different policy decisions for different Corporations.

The counsel further contended that the Government has to come out with common guidelines or notifications under the Town Planning Act or under the General Development Control Regulations (GDCR).

Therefore, noticing that there is no uniform policy and/or guidelines and/or notifications issued by the State Government, and the citizens are compelled to park on the road, the Top Court listed the matter on September 14, 2021, for next hearing.