Nine months after construction, new parking opens at AIIMS

Nine months after it was constructed, the new underground parking facility has become operational at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The parking lot has a capacity to accommodate more than 400 cars. HT reports.

Nine months after it was constructed, the new underground parking facility has become operational at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The parking lot has a capacity to accommodate more than 400 cars.

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The foundation stone of the three-level underground parking was laid in October 2011 and construction completed in August 2012. Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad inaugurated the facility on Monday.

"However, the facility could not be put to use pending clearance from various government agencies. But after getting required clearances, we made it operational immediately," Azad said.

Explaining the delay in making the parking lot operational, officials from the AIIMS administration said, "Final statutory approval by the New Delhi Municipal Corporation was granted on May 5 this year."The multi-level parking would help decongest the AIIMS premises where, according to a recent traffic survey, approximately 14,000 vehicle including 5,000 cars enter every day.

"As of now, AIIMS has a parking capacity of less than 1,000 cars, nearly two-thirds of which is used to park vehicles of AIIMS faculty and staff members. The facility would help decongest the campus," the minister said.

He also said AIIMS would need facilities to park over 10,000 vehicles in the coming years, as a large number of new units will come up at the institute under its ongoing expansion plan.