Shillong: The SUV of a Meghalaya minister
was parked in a `no parking zone` in crowded market area here
and the police collected Rs 1000 as fine before releasing it,
the police said on Friday.
The driver of Saleng Sangma, the Community and Rural
Development Minister, had to cough up the money for neglecting
the `no-parking` sign put up by the police near a shopping
mall at Khyndailad last evening.
Stating that only his driver was in the vehicle,
Sangma told news agency: "This should be a deterrent to other
violators and the police should be allowed to do their job
irrespective of who the vehicle belongs to."
Khyndailad has a designated government-run parking bay
with a capacity of about 500 cars.
Police said in view of the rush of shoppers ahead of
Christmas, strict rules have been put in place.
Like Sangma, several Army and private vehicles have
also been towed by police personnel manning the area in the
past one week for violating rules.
Shillong city is plagued with heavy traffic jams due
to an increasing number of vehicles plying on small roads.
The home department is running short of manpower
manning traffic in city roads.
For every 500 cars there is only one traffic
personnel, police said.
In a day, Shillong city has 5000 taxis and an equal
number or more private vehicles plying on its roads, they
said.
PTI
