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Between 2 pm and 4 pm, Gujarat Society Road in Vile Parle East turns into a siesta spot for auto and cab drivers, according to residents of the area who say they cannot park their vehicles in front of their homes due to this practice.

When mid-day visited the spot on Wednesday and Thursday, between 20 and 40 autorickshaws were parked from Hanuman Road in the north to Nehru Road in the south. An auto driver told this newspaper, “We wait here between shifts. Each auto has two drivers, one for the morning and the other who takes over in the evening. Every day, we meet up here after lunch to hand over our autos to the next driver.”

Ajit Borhade, Deputy Commissioner of Police, traffic, western suburbs

25 km
Approximate length of the Western Express Highway

Autorickshaws are parked outside residential buildings in Vile Parle East on Thursday. Pic/Rane Ashish

Residents’ views

Maitreyee Kelkar, 
‘Tourist taxis, autos, and cabs mostly stop here because they can’t wait for passengers in the airport parking lots. There, they have to pay based on the number of hours they wait for passengers, but here, no one charges them anything. Previously, they used to occupy the Western Express Highway or Sahar Road, but since the police are imposing fines at those spots, they have moved here. I haven’t actually seen any police patrolling happening in the area, at least not often, which is why the auto drivers are so relaxed’

Dhyaneshawri Joglekar, 
‘Some of the autos or cabs are owned by residents of the area. The owners of these vehicles are responsible for the parking situation, and they have to be held accountable. The general fear residents have is of auto or cab drivers misbehaving with passers-by, especially late in the evening’

Ketkey Paranjape, 
‘At night, the autos and cabs park here, inconveniencing those who want to park in front of their homes. Usually, when one leaves for work in the morning, the streets are empty. But by the time they return home, the area is occupied by these vehicles, and residents are left with space to park’

A Vile Parle resident, who didn’t wish to be identified
‘I have lived here for the past 10 years. There are times when residents have to drive around the neighbourhood to find a place to park, but it is a struggle only sometimes. The other times, autos being parked here is a good thing, as I always get one immediately after getting out of my house’

PoliceSpeak

Ajit Borhade, deputy commissioner of police, traffic, western suburbs

‘It’s possible that cab and auto drivers have moved to Vile Parle East because our patrolling officers are imposing fines for parking on Sahar Road or the Western Express Highway. We will definitely look into this matter. Though daily patrolling is the norm, sometimes, if there is a manpower crunch, some areas are not visited multiple times a day’

DCP Borhade added, “According to standing orders, Vakola and Sahar traffic police inspectors must penalise anyone who parks their vehicle on the road instead of using the pay-and-park facilities at the airport. I will instruct the officers to pay closer attention to the inner lanes of Vile Parle and penalise those parking there as well.’”

A traffic police constable, who was patrolling Nehru Road, told mid-day, “Our riders patrol the area, and twice or thrice a week, they fine auto and cab drivers who park here. Most of the time, we only let private vehicles stay, but that is after we talk to the car owner and confirm that they are actual residents or visitors.”