New Delhi: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has proposed that all new buildings, except residential projects, coming up near Metro stations and multi-level car parking lots have 10%-30% less parking space, a move that is aimed at ending congestion by preventing parking on roads and encouraging the use of public transport.
According the dynamic parking rules, approved by the DDA in a meeting last Thursday, parking space for new buildings will be defined by not only the use of the premises but also access to public transport and parking lots.
“Currently, parking norms are based on the designated use of the premises. It has been observed that the surplus parking from buildings spills over to roads and results in congestion in public spaces. The new parking norms have been worked out based on the availability of the Metro network, other modes of public transport (including cab aggregators) and multi-level car parking facilities,” a senior DDA official said, requesting anonymity.
The new rules, drafted by the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC), rationalises parking space for 35 categories of buildings such as commercial centres, colleges, community halls, hospitals, etc, the official said.
A second DDA official said the Union housing and urban affairs ministry had asked the DUAC last year to examine the existing parking norms and suggest suitable measures. The new norms will now be put in the public domain for comments before being notified by the ministry.
{{/usCountry}}A second DDA official said the Union housing and urban affairs ministry had asked the DUAC last year to examine the existing parking norms and suggest suitable measures. The new norms will now be put in the public domain for comments before being notified by the ministry.
{{/usCountry}}Once notified, the new rules will apply to all properties where construction has not begun, even if the plans have been approved by the local civic agency concerned, said a third DDA official. “In all such cases where the plans have already been approved, the properties may be developed as per the revised norms and the concerned local body may be informed in writing. No separate permission will be needed,” the official said.
Proximity to Metro, parking lots
As per the new norms, for a property (except residential) located within 500 metres of a Metro station, there will be a 30% deduction in the permissible parking space. For properties located more than 500 metres and less than 800 metres from a Metro station, there will be a 15% reduction. For properties coming up within one kilometre radius of a multi-level parking lot, 10% of the permissible parking space will be deducted.
Currently, a new commercial complex within 500 metres of a Metro station has to provide three equivalent car parking spaces (ECS) for every 100 sqm of built-up area.
An ECS is the parking space which has to be provided in a building, based on its built-up space (floor area), for parking vehicles, including car, scooter, light vehicles, etc.
Transport experts welcomed the move, saying it is the “way forward” for planned development. They also wanted a a cap on maximum parking that can be provided for a premises. Amit Bhatt, director transport, WRI India, said, “It is a good move that they have reduced parking in areas where Metro or multi-level parking lots are located nearby. A lot of cities world over are moving towards parking maximum. This means that they are capping the maximum parking space. This should be done in Delhi too.”
Banquet halls, commercial centres
The new norms have also reworked the existing parking norms for various ‘use categories’ such as commercial complexes, hospitals (mainly government hospitals), coaching and educational centres, community halls, social and cultural centres, district courts, government offices, etc.
For banquet halls, the permissible parking limit has been doubled from three ECS per 100 sqm to 6 ECS, without any deduction for proximity to a Metro station. Officials said it has been done to cut congestion on roads around banquet halls in city, where parking on roads is a major problem, particularly during wedding season. For hotels, however, the limit has been reduced from 3 ECS per 100 sqm of built-up area to 2 ECS, plus applicable deduction for proximity to a Metro station.
For commercial centres such as Connaught Place, the current limit of 3 ECS has been kept unchanged. But, deductions for proximity to Metro and parking lots will apply. (For more categories, see box)
Residental projects
Permissible parking limits have only partially changed for residential areas. While norms for plotted residential areas remains the same, rules for group housing societies have been altered. However, deductions for Metro and parking lots will not apply to residential buildings or areas.
For residential areas, the DDA has proposed to take the number of dwelling units as the baseline instead of the current built-up area.
Currently, 2 ECS per 100 sqm of built-up area is the norm for group housing. It will now be changed to 0.5 ECS per dwelling unit for societies where each house/flat has an area of less than 40 sqm. If the dwelling units are between 40sqm and 100 sqm, 1 ECS of parking space per house/flat will have to be provided.
Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director (research and advocacy) at Centre for Science and Environment, said, “The parking provision in housing projects should also have the deductions proposed in other categories if they fall in the influence area of Metro stations or transit-oriented development. After the entire Metro network is built in Delhi, nearly 70% of the city will be in transit-oriented development zones (near Metro stations). Therefore, if we don’t apply the Metro and multi-level parking lot deduction in residential colonies, then it will mean negating the advantage of this policy.”