Nashik
Mohan Kankate
Being one of the twelve Jyotirlingas, Trimbakeshwar has always been crowded with devotees across the country. This, on one hand, adds to the exchequer of the Trimbak council, but on the other hand, creates another problem in the form of traffic congestion and parking of private vehicles.
There is a considerable rush of private vehicles along with devotees for 12 months in this temple town. Due to this, vehicles are seen parked in a disorderly manner in the town. As a result, the traffic remains jammed and the devotees who come to the city to have darshan with the locals face traffic jams for hours.
In addition, the Simanstha Kumbh Mela will be held in 2027 and still there is no adequate parking facility for vehicles in Trimbakeshwar. As devotees from all over the country flock to Trimbakeshwar in their own vehicles for darshan, thousands of vehicles are parked in available space.
For bus owners, Rs 120 are charged to park their vehicles in the parking lot, Rs 70 for minibus, Rs 50 for car and jeep etc. However, when a private vehicle comes to this hilly town, the drivers sometimes park their vehicles on the roadside or in the no-parking zone as there is not enough space for parking. Therefore, people coming from rural areas have to suffer from traffic jams.
A traffic island has been developed at Ambedkar Chowk which is the main entrance to the city. But due to unruly parking and heavy traffic, the jams are witnessed every half an hour during the day.
Vehicles are parked on the sides of this Chowk which has become a traffic island. Apart from this, vehicles come face to face from the side of the bus stand and old toll plaza, creating a Chakka Jam-like situation.
Kushavart Teerth Chowk, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk, and Gajanan Maharaj Sansthan area are important from visitors’ point of view. There are long queues of vehicles in these areas too. So, citizens have to work hard to get smooth access to their vehicles here.
Interestingly, there is a spacious parking space in Trimbak town, where a multi-storied building is currently being constructed at a cost of Rs.5 crores. Along with this, the city council has developed a parking lot near the Nivrutinath temple by spending another Rs 50 lakh.
However, in spite of this, the problem of parking remains as it is. Therefore, before the upcoming Kumbh Mela, it is necessary for the local administration to take the initiative and take measures to find a permanent solution to the parking problem.
