Parking scam: EPCA orders strict action

To prevent land grabbing by parking contractors, EPCA has directed the land-owning agencies to demarcate dimensions of the parking lot using thermoplastic paint. Neelam Pandey reports.

To prevent land grabbing by parking contractors, EPCA has directed the land-owning agencies to demarcate dimensions of the parking lot using thermoplastic paint. This will ensure that contractors don’t park more vehicles in the lots than the permissible limit.

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Both the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) have been asked to carry out the exercise within two weeks. A status report also has to be filed by both the civic agencies.

These recommendations cam during a meeting held by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) on Saturday to discuss the parking scenario.

"All the dimensions of the parking lots have to be marked using thermoplastic paint so that it can’t be tampered with. Also, the board having details about the parking lots, including the official rates, will have to be displayed at a prominent place so that it is visible to everyone. We have also asked the MCD to put up details of all their parking lots, including the name and number of the contractor, on their websites, too. This has to be done by Tuesday," said Bhure Lal, chairman of EPCA.

In addition to this, Delhi traffic police will also prosecute the contractors who are found violating the parking norms.

“Most of the time it is the attendants who are arrested while the contractors go scot free. We will carry out raids across the city and criminal proceedings will be initiated against the contractors. We have already sent a list of contractors who were found over-charging to the civic agency so that their contracts are cancelled,” said Satyendra Garg, additional CP (traffic).

In case the civic agencies fail to implement the EPCA’s directions, the officials will also be prosecuted.

“If they fail to implement our directions we can prosecute them, too. The public is being harassed by the parking contractors and the civic agencies have been turning a blind eye to it. We want to change the current parking scenario in the city for which we will take strict action,” added Bhure Lal.