Parking near PVR Saket to be shut

Finding a place to park your car in south Delhi is an ordeal. The latest decision of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is most likely to turn it into a nightmare. Ritam Halder reports.

Finding a place to park your car in south Delhi is an ordeal. The latest decision of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation is most likely to turn it into a nightmare.

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After Mayor Sarita Choudhary on Thursday visited a corporation parking lot near PVR Saket, the civic body decided to shut it to “decongest” the area, one of the major entertainment hubs of the city.

The Mayor inspected Lado Sarai along with commissioner Manish Gupta and other senior corporation officials.

Senior corporation officials said the parking lot located on the main road outside PVR Anupam is being de-notified. “The parking lot inside the PVR Anupam campus per se is not a hazard. The one on the main road leads to traffic chaos during peak hours and chokes the movement of vehicles,” the officer said.

The official said the parking will be de-notified within 10 days. “Tenders were last floated five years back. No fresh tenders will be issued this time,” he said. The parking lot has space for 100 cars, while the main parking lot can house around 700 cars.

Regulars to PVR Saket are not pleased with the move.

Harsh Thakur, a resident of Malviya Nagar, said the closing down of the parking lot can aggravate parking problems in the area.

“Without providing an alternative site, it is not a good move to shut down a parking lot in a place that sees such high footfall. This will force people to illegally park their vehicles,” Thakur, a 25-year-old software professional, said.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation has 73 surface parking spots in its jurisdiction and has plans to acquire 13 more sites.