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Parking in Yusuf Sarai market to get costlier
Rajdutt Gehlot, chairman, SDMC standing committee, said, “We have decided to double the parking fee for on-street parking in Yusuf Sarai market near Green Park multilevel parking facility.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) on Wednesday approved a hike in the on-street surface parking charges, from ₹20 to ₹40, per hour, in Yusuf Sarai market in its standing committee meeting. The civic body also approved the levy of an annual fee on banquet halls operating in unauthorised colonies under its jurisdiction. The charges will come into effect after the House approves the proposals.
Rajdutt Gehlot, chairman, SDMC standing committee, said, “We have decided to double the parking fee for on-street parking in Yusuf Sarai market near Green Park multilevel parking facility. The parking charges have been increased from ₹20 per hour to ₹40 per hour. This move will discourage people from parking vehicles in surface parking and will enhance occupancy in the (Green Park) multilevel facility.”
Gehlot said that the civic body had built a multilevel parking at Green Park to accommodate 136 cars in November last year, but the facility was not being used. The civic body found later, through a survey, that people preferred to park their vehicles in the nearby on-street facility in Yusuf Sarai market. He said that depending on the public response, a similar approach might be taken in other areas too.
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A 17-storeyed multilevel automatic car park near Green Park Metro station was inaugurated in November 2020, with a capacity to accommodate 136 cars, including 32 SUVs. The facility was built on 878 square metres (sqm), at a cost of ₹18.2 crore.
Other multilevel car parks in the SDMC area are located in Hauz Khas, Lajpat Nagar, Sarojini Nagar, Munirka, Rajouri Garden and New Friends Colony.
The parking policy approved by the Delhi government in September 2019 states that there should be no on-street parking within 500 metres of multilevel facilities. In case it is essential, it should be priced exponentially, at least three times that of the multilevel facility charges.
Officials familiar with the matter said that the approval of a policy, for registration and collection of permission charges for weddings and social events at banquet halls in unauthorised colonies and unauthorised regularised colonies, is expected to boost revenue.
Gehlot said that the municipality provides sanitation and other services to banquet halls but did not receive revenue so far. “So, we have decided to levy an annual fee on such banquets halls or other permanent structures where functions are held in unauthorised colonies. Charges will depend on the size of the plot area. The applicants can either take the licence for one year or half-year. They will be given a rebate of one month if they pay the amount in one go,” Gehlot said.
According to the policy document approved by the SDMC, banquet halls having an area of up to 400sqm will be charges ₹6,000 per month and Rs72,000 annually, while those with an area of 401sqm to 1,000sqm will be charged ₹7,000 per month ( ₹84,000 annually). The monthly charge for halls built on an area of 1,001 sqm to 5,000sqm was set at ₹12,000 ( ₹1.44 lakh annually), while monthly fees of ₹27,000 ( ₹3.24 lakh annually) and ₹52,000 ( ₹6.24 lakh annually) would be collected from facilities running built on 5,001sqm to 10,000 sqm and above 10,000sqm, respectively.
