MCD pitches ₹775 crore plan to add parking in Delhi

The cumulative cost for the nine parking establishments is estimated to be around ₹775 crore

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has planned to set up nine new multilevel parking lots at key markets and arterial roads across the city, with a combined capacity to accommodate over 4,400 vehicles, officials said on Sunday.

MCD has planned to set up nine new multilevel parking lots at key markets and arterial roads across the city. (Representational Image) (Unsplash)

The cumulative cost for the nine parking establishments is estimated to be around ₹775 crore and is expected to increase the capacity of parking lots under MCD by 40% –- from current 10,751 cars to 15,157.

As per a submission by the civic body to the government, chaired by chief minister Rekha Gupta, the nine locations are Idgah Road in City SP zone; Rajinder Nagar and Shashti Park in Karol Bagh zone; Nand Nagari and Babarpur in east Delhi; and four facilities in West zone – PVR Janakpuri, Janak complex, Hari Nagar and Punjabi Bagh Club road.

Delhi has the largest number of registered vehicles in the country, at 7.7 million. However, the Capital is also facing an acute space crunch, especially in planned residential and commercial areas.

MCD has so far operationalised 30 multilevel automated parking lots in the national Capital, latestbeing the ones opened in Greater Kailash-1 and Punjabi Bagh last year. The cumulative capacity of all MCD parking lots is currently 10,751 four wheelers and around a thousand two wheelers.

A senior civic official said that potential sites for developing multilevel facilities are being analysed but the nine finalised sites were submitted to the Delhi government. “A maximum of four of these units are located in west Delhi. Three lots with capacity of holding 50 cars each will be set up in the parking lot at PVR Vikaspuri. These three units are likely to cost ₹37 crore. A smaller Janak complex parking lot on Pankha Road will hold 69 vehicles and it will cost around ₹16.13 crore. Another facility to park 162 cars will come up behind the DDU hospital at cost of ₹38 crore while the Punjabi Bagh club road will cater to 350 cars and it will cost ₹38 crore,” the official added.

The largest of the nine facilities will be set up at the Idgah Road in City Sadar Paharganj zone, which will host 2,100 cars and cost ₹346 crore. “The site in Idgah earlier hosted the old slaughterhouse of the city, which was shifted to Ghazipur under the Sheila Dikshit government. Since then, this patch has been lying vacant. It will be developed as a commercial complex-cum-parking lot,” the official explained.

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Delhi already has a Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, as a roadmap for tackling parking issues. Despite the Supreme Court’s intervention, leading to notification of Delhi’s parking policy in September 2019, key features of the plan are yet to be implemented in the city.

“We also have ample funds lying in terms of parking and conversion charges which can be used to fund these projects,” the MCD official said.

Parking inauguration

Lieutenant governor VK Saxena and CM Rekha Gupta will inaugurate the multilevel parking at Nehru Place on Monday. The parking complex comprises six levels and is built at a cost of ₹62.4 crore.

With the capacity to accommodate 660 cars, the facility has been equipped with automated ticketing, LED lighting, firefighting systems, CCTV surveillance, lifts and electric vehicle charging points, officials said. Notably, work on the facility was undertaken by the Delhi Development Authority.