Sambalpur: Illegal parking of trucks on SambalpurRourkela Biju Expressway in front of various industrial firms on the roadside has led to regular traffic jam on the highway here. Taking cognizance of the matter, the regional office of the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) here in a letter-3574/22 has issued notice to the industrial firms warning them of action if they do not make own arrangements for parking of the trucks visiting their firms for loading and unloading of goods. The copies of the notice have also been served to the Sambalpur Collector, the Works department and the consultancy agency engaged in road construction works.
Reports said that several industrial firms have come up in this district in front of the Biju Expressway connecting Sambalpur with Rourkela. The establishment of these firms near the Biju Expressway has resulted in sharp increase in commercial activities following which several trucks visit these firms to load or unload cargo.
However, due to lack of adequate parking space, the drivers park the vehicles on the road leading to traffic snarls on the highway. The illegal parking leaves little space for other vehicles to move on the highway and leaves them stranded for long hours. Moreover, illegal parking also leads to pollution in the area.
Among the roadside, farms are the JSW Bhushan Power and Steel, which has its plant at Thelkuli, Biraj Steel and Power Ltd at Gurupali, Aditya Alumina and Maa Samaleshwari Industry Pvt Ltd at Lapanga, Shyam Metallics and Energy at Pandloi, Aryan Ispat and Power Pvt Ltd at Bamaloi. Notably, traffic on the highway was disrupted for over four hours due to this reason September 27 with thousands of passengers and commercial vehicles and two-wheelers getting stuck on the route and commuters having a difficult time. This sparked off tension among the commuters and police personnel had to struggle for long hours to clear the traffic jam.
Police also collected penalty for illegal parking from over 40 trucks but that has failed to deter the truckers from illegal parking. The commuters had then alleged that travelling on the highway has become a nightmare due to illegal parking of thousands of trucks that visit the industrial estate at Rengali.