Noida: New parking policy in place to reduce congestion

The Noida Authority will pick agencies that will operate 60 parking lots on different roads

With the objective to reduce traffic congestion due to unauthorised parking, Noida authority will hire fresh agencies that will manage surface parking lots across the city. The authority said that it will select agencies that will control operations at 60 parking lots earmarked on different roads.

Earlier there were 41 authorised parking lots in Noida. Due to illegal parking on roads, many areas such as sectors 18, 41, 16, 6, 7, 50, 58, 59 and 2, among others, frequently get choked. (Virendra Singh Gosain/HT PHOTO)

Earlier there were 41 authorised parking lots in Noida. Due to illegal parking on roads, many areas such as sectors 18, 41, 16, 6, 7, 50, 58, 59 and 2, among others, frequently get choked.

“At present the authority has allowed parking on roadsides on 41 locations. These contracts will be over by the end of November. We will give new 60 parking lot contracts to new agencies through an e-tender in October. Our objective is to take steps to reduce traffic congestion,” said Sandip Chandra, senior project engineer at the Noida authority.

As per the new parking policy, the authority will charge ₹20 for four wheelers for the first two hours. After that, additional money would be charged as per time occupied by the car.

As per the old policy, the Noida authority charges ₹20 for parking four-wheelers and ₹10 for two-wheelers for 14 hours (9am to 11pm) along the roads in the markets.

“We have prepared the parking fee policy and submitted it to Noida authority chief executive officer for final approval. We will release the detailed parking fee applicable for four-wheelers and two wheelers once it is approved by the CEO,” said Chandra.

Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate BN Singh said he has written to the Noida authority several times asking them to streamline management at parking lots to address traffic congestion.

“I have asked the Noida authority to fix responsibility of engineers and traffic cops for every area. If there is illegal parking in their respective areas, then we must take action promptly,” said BN Singh.

Authority officials said that congestion occurs as the contractors encroach upon more space than allowed for running their parking lots.

Read I Noida traffic police continues crackdown on traffic violations

“We have decided to ensure that all parking attendants will use hand-held electronic devices to issue parking slips to maintain transparency. And we will earmark the authorised areas with yellow paint. If a contractor is found going beyond the yellow area, then we will act as per policy,” said Chandra.

The authority has divided city areas into four zones, and the new 60 parking lots will be divided into four zones.

“We will hire four contractors, who will manage lots in their respective zones,” said Chandra.

As of now, Noida has 34,000 square metres of space for parking use with 41 spots. With 60 spots there will be 50,000 square meters parking space available.