Parking crunch clogs Rajpath

The sudden onset of pleasant weather due to a steep fall in temperature brought much-needed respite from the heat for Delhiites. However, it also gave the Delhi Traffic Police a tough time in its attempt to manage vehicular traffic on Rajpath.

The sudden onset of pleasant weather due to a steep fall in temperature brought much-needed respite from the heat for Delhiites. However, it also gave the Delhi Traffic Police a tough time in its attempt to manage vehicular traffic on Rajpath.

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Hundreds of vehicles spilled over on Rajpath, during the past two days, as people came in droves to enjoy the fresh air near India Gate. These vehicles clogged roads on Rajpath, leaving almost no space for movement of other vehicles. As many as 1,200 cars brimmed over the India Gate area on Monday, while on Tuesday, vehicular traffic went up to 2,000, said a senior officer of Delhi Traffic Police (DTP).

“We are facing a severe problem managing traffic on Rajpath as the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) has recently closed the area behind the water channel near India Gate. Earlier, we used this space for parking,” said Ajay Chadha, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic).

He said the traffic police has also written a letter to the CPWD to leave the area for parking. “However, CPWD barricaded the area to keep it green,” said Chadha.

However, director general of CPWD, BK Chugh said, “We have not received any such communication from the Delhi Traffic Police yet.”

According to CPWD, the area behind the water channel was never an authorised parking lot, though vehicles were parked there.

“Even if we receive such a letter from DTP, we cannot leave the area for parking, as it was decided at the ministerial level that it would be kept green,” said a senior officer in of CPWD’s engineering cell.

The traffic police tried to regulate vehicular traffic throughout Monday and Tuesday but did not issue challans to any vehicle nor did they take any action against them.

“We are now trying to create two parking lots — one on Mansingh Road and the other on Janpath — which will accommodate about 1,500 vehicles. We don’t know whether this will be a lasting solution,” said a senior traffic police officer.