Traffic police ask banquet owners to arrange dedicated parking

NEW DELHI: The traffic police have asked banquet hall owners in west and outer Delhi to arrange dedicated parking facilities away from public roads to ease congestion caused by roadside parking during wedding functions, officials said

NEW DELHI: The traffic police have asked banquet hall owners in west and outer Delhi to arrange dedicated parking facilities away from public roads to ease congestion caused by roadside parking during wedding functions, officials said.

A senior traffic police officer said the instructions were verbally communicated during a recent meeting with banquet hall owners. (HT Archive)

A senior traffic police officer said the instructions were verbally communicated during a recent meeting with banquet hall owners, asking them to identify vacant spaces in the vicinity of their venues, rent them, and use them as dedicated parking for guests.

“The move aims to ease vehicular congestion outside banquet halls, particularly during the wedding season. The main road in Moti Nagar and the Peeragarhi stretch are among the locations where vehicles parked along the road by guests and valet operators routinely narrow the available carriageway, slowing down traffic,” the officer said.

The officer added that the traffic police will also write to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to request parking space wherever available. “We have asked the banquet hall owners to identify available space and inform us. If the land belongs to the DDA, we will write to them. The monetary aspect will be planned accordingly,” the officer said.

The issue of choked roads outside these facilities is not new. In January 2022, HT highlighted how the presence of multiple banquet halls, heavy pedestrian movement, and on-street parking contributed to congestion around the Peeragarhi junction. The 3.6-km stretch between Jwalapuri and Jwala Heri signals on Rohtak Road was particularly vulnerable, with four traffic signals and a road width of around 60 metres adding to the bottleneck.

The problem has also been flagged on Satguru Ram Singh Marg, where five banquet halls between Mayapuri Chowk and Lajwanti Chowk were identified as major contributors to traffic jams, the officer said.

The latest move comes amid a wider effort by the traffic police and civic agencies to address congestion at identified hotspots across Delhi.

In November 2025, HT reported that the government had identified 62 chronic congestion points, including South Extension Part I, Punjabi Bagh roundabout, Yusuf Sarai Market, Ashram Chowk, Mayapuri Chowk, Sarai Kale Khan, Anand Vihar, Kashmere Gate, Naraina flyover, and the Kohat-Madhuban Chowk corridor.

The traffic police had also stepped up enforcement at 30 congestion hotspots where they could intervene without depending extensively on other agencies. For instance, between January 1 and January 25 of this year, traffic police conducted enforcement, towing, and encroachment removal drives at these locations. Across these 30 points—including Nehru Place (Lajpat Nagar Circle), Ashram Chowk, Chirag Delhi (Sangam Vihar Circle), Road No. 13A (New Friends Colony Circle), Mathura Road at Okhla More red light, Masoodpur Village on Mahipalpur Road (Vasant Vihar Circle), and in front of Max Hospital, Saket—data showed that 53,615 traffic violations were prosecuted, 2,075 vehicles were towed away, and 1,891 encroachments by street vendors were removed during 269 joint drives conducted with local police and civic agencies.

However, there was little improvement in congestion despite these interventions.

“This step will address one recurring source of congestion by ensuring that wedding venues do not use public roads as extensions of their parking facilities,” the officer said.