74 banquet halls in Ghaziabad have been asked to ensure adequate parking spaces and avoid road chaos

As the wedding season has begun, Ghaziabad police have issued notices to 74 banquet halls across the city and directed them to make proper arrangements for parking and avoid traffic jams on the roads.

Every wedding season, the streets of Ghaziabad are clogged with wedding parades and on-street parking, leaving commuters inconvenienced for hours and stuck in traffic jams.

“It is common for the wedding procession (barat) to pass through main roads and guests generally park their cars on the road without considering that this causes traffic congestion. Some banquet halls do not have parking spaces, and those that do have parking spaces are insufficient. Commuters feel helpless in traffic jams on the street. There is hardly any traffic police deployment and the private guards at the venue are unable to manage the traffic as they are not trained to do so,” said Vikrant Sharma, resident of Raj Nagar Extension.

Local residents said that long traffic jams regularly occur on Diamond Road, which leads to NH-9 and also from Vasundhara to NH-9, due to the number of wedding halls on these routes.

“Some banquet halls on CISF Road have parking spaces, but they fill up quickly. The wedding processions take a long time to disperse and firecrackers are also burned on the streets with no regard for the inconvenience caused to commuters. There is hardly any enforcement action,” said Mohan Sangwan, a resident of Shakti Khand, Indirapuram.

The traffic police said they have asked their respective traffic inspectors to identify areas where such traffic jams and other problems occur.

“Inspectors have been asked to take precautions and deploy staff to avoid congestion near halls. We have also sent notices to 74 banquet halls/wedding halls requesting them to make proper arrangements for parking and ensure that there is no obstruction to road traffic. If these conditions are violated, the traffic police can impose fines, confiscate them and even lodge FIRs,” said Piyush Kumar Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police (traffic).

The wedding season has begun after the Hindu festival of Devuthani Ekadashi on November 12, when it is believed that the gods have awakened and auspicious events like weddings, purchasing new properties or vehicles, etc. can take place.