Mumbai: Despite repeated complaints by the locals, the issue of double parking persists in Colaba. One such location is B K Boman Behram Marg, right behind the Taj Mahal palace hotel. The private contractors appointment by commercial establishments like Colaba Socials, take hefty parking charges from customers (Rs 100 per hour), take the keys and valet park the cars.

Surprisingly, the area also has BMC's Pay and Park lots, however, the BMC appointment contractors also park the vehicles next to each other, occupying the two lane road. When the FPJ asked one such operator on the spot outside Starbucks, he said that they have been told to park cars where space is available on this road, but they ensure the cars are safe and also give receipt (Rs 70 per hour).

The area which is right behind the five-star Taj Mahal hotel, near Gate way of India sees VVIPs visiting everyday and is a heavily guarded area.

The FPJ found that the double parking is done with the connivance of traffic police as road has the divisional police chowki and a combat vehicle too. The officer on duty said, "It is right, double parking is not allowed. We see traffic jam on this road at least three to four times a day. We help the traffic to ease, however, we have been told to not take actions parking. At times if there is extreme rush or situation is heated, we have been instructed to inform Colaba police station or our divisional office."

The police officer said that the one side of the lane is reserved for Taj's visitors (despite the five-star hotel has its own parking) and the Taj hotel management have deployed their staff every 100 meters to keep check on their guests' cars. While, the other side of the road is for public where contractors double park.

Local resident and activist Rocky Lobo said, "I have sent videos and complaints of this menace to senior traffic police officers, who pay no heed. Some of them have blocked my number. We residents have huge inconvenience. Forget our cars, we can't walk on the roads here," Lobo said.