CHENNAI: The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has now taken up the role of a traffic policeman by imposing fines on motorists and locking up their vehicles found parked in what they call a ‘No Parking Zone’ at the Koyambedu bus terminus.Unsuspecting visitors to CMBT were in for a surprise on Monday when they found their vehicles clamped. They were asked to pay Rs 20 as fine for parking their vehicles in the alleged ‘No Parking Zone’.“The ‘No Parking’ board is nowhere to be seen and workers manning the parking lot are demanding `20 as fines,” said a visitor, who had come to pick up his relatives from the bus terminus.When questioned about the legality of such a measure by the parking lot workers, CMDA’s Superintendent Engineer Om Narayanan said, “We have issued an order not to lock the vehicles in the morning. We resorted to the move because people were not parking their vehicles in the parking lot,” he said.But when pointed out that it was the role of the traffic police and not the CMDA to levy fines and lock vehicles, he claimed that the traffic policemen were not doing their duty and so, they had decided to initiate action by levying fines and locking up the vehicles.However, he did concede that the CMDA did collect fines in the first three days after taking over the parking lot from private contractors. “This was just to instil fear. Now, we have stopped collecting fines,” he said. But visitors allege that the CMDA is still collecting the fine amount of `20 to remove the clamp. “We will look into the matter,” a senior CMDA official said.Assistant executive engineer Joel, who visited the site, was struggling for answers when asked how unsuspecting visitors to CMBT would know that it was a ‘No Parking Zone’. “We will soon put flexiboards to make people aware that it is a ‘No Parking Zone’,” he said, adding that the flexiboards had got damaged when the trees were cut.Even the workers in the parking lot were rude and refused to cooperate when an Express photographer went there to take pictures, despite being told that the necessary permission had been obtained from the CMDA. Interestingly, contrary to Narayanan’s assurances in the morning that the exercise would be stopped, several vehicles were once again seen clamped the afternoon.
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