MCD told to use hand-held parking devices

Peeved with the slow action on illegal parking lots in the city, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) has directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to introduce hand-held parking devices in all of its 293 parking lots.

Peeved with the slow action on illegal parking lots in the city, the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) has directed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to introduce hand-held parking devices in all of its 293 parking lots.

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The Hindustan Times, in a series of reports on the parking mafia, had exposed how illegal parking operators were cashing in on the space crunch in the city, charging 10 times more than the actual rates in some areas.

"Parking contractors have been fleecing people by charging exorbitant rates. Parking receipts are being tampered too. Many motorists are not even aware of the official rates, so they end up paying whatever is asked. With the introduction of hand-held devices, all this will come to an end as computerised slips will be issued," said Bhure Lal, chairman of EPCA.

Hand-held devices are currently being used by contractors in NDMC areas like Janpath.

These devices provide all parking details like the vehicle number, time of entry and exit and the rates charged per hour.

The civic agency has been given two-week's time to ensure all the parking contractors in its zone start using the hand-held devices.

The devices will have to be procured by the contractors. A meeting was held on Saturday to discuss the problems related to parking in the Capital. The meeting was attended by top MCD, NDMC and Delhi Traffic Police officials.

Members of EPCA will also conduct surprise checks at parking lots to ensure the hand-held device directive is being followed.

The EPCA has also directed the MCD to carry out appropriate demarcation of authorised parking lots and mark them using thermoplastic paint so that there is no misuse of parking space.