The violation of wrong parking on national highways and internal Ludhiana roads has been aggravating with each passing day. Though traffic jams are occurring due to the same, it can also invite major road mishaps.
During a survey conducted on highways in Ludhiana, heavy trucks and other vehicles were found parked on the roads. Despite the signboards prohibiting parking, commuters seem to be least concerned. Some of them were seen sitting in their stationary trucks. Some have parked their vehicles on the highway to visit roadside vends.
The same problem persists on internal city roads. People park their cars in no parking zones and go for shopping. Though the traffic police have deployed tow-away vehicles to pick such vehicles and shift them to the Police Lines and a spot near the Sarabha Nagar market and owners get custody of the same after paying heavy challans, people continue to flout the norms.
The traffic police have issued about 29,000 challans for wrong parking this year, around 5,270 challans on an average every month.
As several road mishaps have occurred in the past due to stationary vehicles in the city, immediate steps need to be taken in this regard.
Past accidents
In 2017, due to wrong parking on a highway, a major road tragedy had occurred in Doraha where a woman and her son were killed when their vehicle rammed into a stationary truck.
In March 2020, a newly-married youth and his brother-in-law were killed while five others sustained injuries when their car rammed into a stationary truck on the GT Road. On February 19, 2023, two persons, including a woman, were killed and 20 injured when their bus collided with a stationary truck near Khanna on the Ludhiana-Delhi highway. On February 23, 2023, a couple lost their lives in a road mishap after their car hit a stationary truck on a national highway in Khanna.
On May 5, 2024, the cleaner of a truck was killed after the vehicle hit another stationary truck on the national highway near Libra village in Khanna. On June 15, 2024, the driver of a pick-up truck was killed in a road mishap after the vehicle crashed into a stationary truck laden with iron rods on a national highway near Doraha. Iron rods hanging from the truck pierced through the driver’s body and he was killed on the spot. His assistant suffered severe injuries.
On September 3, 2024, one person was killed and 14 injured when a truck hit a stationary bus on the Ludhiana-Jalandhar road. The incident occurred when attendants of the bus were changing one of its tyres. On June 3, 2025, three persons were killed when the car they were travelling in from Ludhiana to Malerkotla rammed into a stationary truck.