North municipal body to clear encroachments in central Delhi

NEW DELHI: Coming down heavily on private vehicles and ambulances parked illegally on the pavement and the road facing Lok Nayak and GB Pant hospitals, the civic agency has decided to start a special drive to clear the stretch.

On Monday, the North Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner PK Gupta visited the busy Jawaharlal Nehru Marg, connecting Delhi Gate to New Delhi Railway Station and Barakhamba Road.

Officials found that heavy traffic jams are a routine affair due to haphazard parking of vehicles outside these two hospitals.

Gupta asked the officials to warn the vehicles owners to park vehicles in car-parking zone, else their vehicles will be impounded.

“The ambulances, which are also used as shared taxis, could be seen encroaching on pavement at JLN road the whole day. It leads to massive traffic jam throughout the day. Commuters coming from Delhi Gate waste at least 15-20 minutes in crossing the half-kilometre stretch,” said Anant Rastogi, who uses the stretch to go to Barakhamba Road daily.

Officials said in the Delhi Municipal Council Act, there is a provision to impound vehicles and impose a heavy penalty.

The penalty is charged on the basis of the weight of the vehicle, crane charges, etc. The penalty amount on a car could be between `4,000 and `9,000 per day.

The municipal commissioner also inspected the adjoining Asaf Ali Road where tonnes of debris was dumped outside the corporation’s zonal office. He directed the officials of engineering department to arrange for immediate removing of the malba and construction waste.

“There is a plot earmarked for dumping construction waste at this stretch but it is insufficient to serve the purpose of whole city zone. People, who don’t find space at the plot, dump waste on roadside. I have instructed the staff to immediately remove it and transport it to the construction and demolition waste site in Burari,” said Gupta.

To catch the people illegally dumping construction waste in open, the north corporation had also installed a CCTV cameras at the Asaf Ali Marg, four months back but it didn’t serve the purpose.

At Netaji Subhash Marg, Gupta directed removing encroachments by shopkeepers. “People have encroached the footpath. This leaves no space for pedestrians to move. I asked officials to take strict action against those violating rules in this regard,” said Gupta who plans to revisit the place on Monday again.