MCDs favour higher parking rates during peak hours, surface sites

Paving the way for implementation of a new Parking Policy for Delhi, the three municipal corporations have supported the need for differential parking rates and have even recommended higher parking rates for surface parking than multi-level parking.

The move, if enforced, will encourage people to use multi-level parking sites, which is not being used as per its capacity.

South Delhi Municipal Corporation commissioner PK Goel said, “The parking rates are very low. Besides increasing it there is also a need for differential parking rate under which we will charge more during peak hours. This will help decongest several areas of Delhi.”

“We not just support differential parking rates but have also recommended higher rates for surface parking than multi-level parking,” he added.

Several attempts have been made in the past by the corporation officials in the past few years to increase the parking rates. However, the proposals, which made it to the budgetary speech of the commissioners, were later revised by the political leadership till now.

However, SDMC mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat said, “We need to take stringent steps to save people from vehicular pollution due to excessive traffic. We will support all the measures that will help provide relief to people of Delhi in the longer run.”

The commissioner of North Corporation and mayor of east Delhi echoed similar sentiments.

With the mayors and commissioners agreeing to revised rates, the responsibility of implementing the new parking policy will be upon the MCDs. This is because the municipal corporations of Delhi have nearly 80% of the parking lots under them.

Mayor of east Delhi Neema Bhagat said, “The increase of parking rates and differential parking system may pinch people, but they need to understand that these steps are being taken for their future. The East Corporation is also under severe fund crisis and steps like this will increase the revenue generation.”

Experts have been arguing for years that the corporation should increase its parking fee to deter people from buying new cars. Besides decreasing congestion, it would also help the corporations in augmenting their revenue.

However, the last time the three corporations revised their rates was in 2014 when it increased the minimum hourly charges to Rs20 for cars from Rs10 per hour. For the two wheelers, the rates were doubled to Rs10.

There are 250 surface parking sites across the city, but the corporations have not been able to raise additional revenue from them as many of them are being used for free, said an official with North Corporation.

Spearheaded by the L-G, the policy lays down a number of actions to be taken by the MCDs.

They have been asked to identify space for commercial parking and develop vacant plots in residential areas for private parking.

The North and South civic bodies have identified land for building 60 new parking spaces. However, the corporation is still in talks with different land-owning agencies like PWD, DMRC, DDA and is also looking at the feasibility of creating parking space at these places.