Mayor Hakim announces new rule of no vehicle parking between 7 am to 9 am across Kolkata

Kolkata Mayor Firhad Hakim announces a strict new rule to make the city cleaner – no vehicles can be parked on any road or parking zone from 7 AM to 9 AM daily. This includes private cars, buses, minibuses, and even buses parked in private depots or gumtis. The order came after residents complained that parked vehicles stop sweepers from cleaning roads properly and garbage piles up between cars, creating dirty and unhealthy spots.

During ‘Talk to Mayor’ phone-in programme, a resident from South Kolkata's Haltu area said garbage was being dumped in an illegal parking area right in front of his house and cleaners could not reach the spot because of two parked cars. Hearing this, Mayor Hakim immediately decided that for the sake of both citizens and cleaning staffs, roads must stay completely free for two hours every morning from 7 AM to 9 AM so that sweepers can do their job without any hindrance. He asked the Kolkata Municipal Commissioner to issue an official notice the same day. The rule will also cover night-parked buses and minibuses – all must be moved by 7 AM.

Even buses parked inside Dharmatala’s private depots have to be taken out during these two hours. The Mayor also wrote to the Kolkata Police to remove abandoned and seized vehicles that stay on roads for months. He explained that many people own cars but have no proper parking space, yet roads must remain clean and free for traffic and drainage during monsoon. The mayor released a short music video today to keep the city clean in which the citizens of the city are requested to throw garbage in the dustbin and additionally he said that the video will be shown in various places in Kolkata for awareness amongst citizens.