North corporation to create slots for parking 13,000 cars by 2023-24

The civic body proposes to build 17 multilevel and three stack parking lots; work on three sites has already begun, said officials

NEW DELHI: The North Delhi Municipal Corporation proposes to create space for parking nearly 13,000 cars across at least 20 sites, in a massive ramp up of the infrastructure in north Delhi areas where haphazard parking is one of the major reasons for congestion.

North MCD officials say the plan, which was proposed in the civic body’s budget for 2021-22, will help bring in additional revenue for the civic body. The corporation is going through a financial crunch, forcing it to withhold salaries of its staff.

According to the plan, the North corporation will build nearly 17 multilevel parking lots and three stack facilities across several areas under its jurisdiction. Currently, the North corporation runs 130 parking lots.

The new multilevel parking lots are proposed to come up at 17 locations. These are Shivamarket in Pitampura (500 cars), Gandhi Maidan (2,338 cars), Qutub Road (174 cars), Sant Nagar in Rani Bagh (600 cars), Idgah Road (3150 cars), Shastri Park (577 cars), Rajendra Nagar (464 cars), U&v-block, Shalimar Bagh (288 cars), AC Block, Shalimar Bagh (350 cars), Bank Street in Karol Bagh (500 cars), Madipur (580 cars), Udyog Nagar (470 cars), Punjabi Bagh (324 cars), Nangloi (1000 cars), Mundka Metro Station (1,000 cars), RG Complex Paharganj (350 cars) and Pratap Nagar (250 cars).

Stack parking lots for a total of 291 cars will come up at Nigambodh Ghat, Salim Garh near Hanuman Setu and Bagh Diwar at Fatehpuri.

“Work on most of the major projects have started. At some places, construction has begun while some are in planning and tendering stage. Parking facilities at Nigambodh Ghat and

Fatehpuri are likely to be opened in the beginning of next financial year while multilevel lots at Shivamarket in Pitampura, Qutub Road near Sadar and Gandhi Maidan near Chandni Chowk are likely to be made operational by the end of next year,” a senior official of the north corporation said on the condition of anonymity.

He said that construction work on multilevel parking at Shivamarket, Qutub Road and Gandhi Maidan is already underway while bidding process for facilities at Sant Nagar in Rani Bagh, Shatri Park and

Rajendra Nagar is likely to be started next week. Parking at Idgah Road and Mundka will be developed in collaboration with the Delhi Metro. He said that a memorandum of understanding has already been signed with the Delhi Metro for Idgah Road parking. The official further said that all the multilevel parking facilities will be at least six floors high, including basement.

Officials said these parking spaces will also help in reducing traffic bottleneck in different areas.

“Paharganj has featured on the traffic department’s list of most clogged areas. During our study we found out that the area is prone to traffic logjams because of haphazardly parked vehicles near RG Complex in Paharganj. We worked out a solution that a multilevel parking should be constructed to accommodate over 350 cars which spill over nearby roads. Approval from the House has been given for this project and we will soon start the process to acquire a piece of land from the DDA (Delhi Development Authority). The project will be completed in two years,” another official privy to the development, said.

Jai Prakash, mayor, north corporation, said these remunerative projects will not only solve parking and traffic congestion problems but also help the civic body in generating revenue.

He said the modalities of several of these projects are yet to be worked out but some of these are likely to be carried out on the basis of public private partnership.

“All of these parking facilities will be made operational in next two to three years. This will help great deal in solving parking menace and traffic issues. We are also hoping to generate more annual revenue from such remunerative projects. We will also look for more new sites where multilevel, stack or surface parking sites can be developed,” Prakash said.

KS Mehra, former commissioner of the unified MDD, said these are much needed initiatives and such projects will financially help the cashstrapped civic body.

“This is the right approach as these projects will not only give a solution to the parking menace in congested areas like Chandni Chowk and Karol Bagh but also help the municipality in augmenting their revenue collection. These projects can be developed on PPP mode and I suggest that the government should also support such initiatives,” he said.

Mehra also suggested that the civic body should also implement dynamic parking charges — charge extra during peak hours near markets — not only to streamline parking problems but also to earn more revenue.