The Delhi High Court on Friday directed the North Municipal Corporation to ensure that Dussehra celebrations at Parade Grounds, near Red Fort, do not affect access to the multilevel parking lot in the area. “If you deprive about 50,000 vehicles of parking space by blocking access, they will be parked all over the place. It is hellish for the people who go there and who live there,” the court of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice S Muralidhar said. The court’s direction came after Chandni Chowk Vyapaar Mandal filed an application alleging that the Ramlila organisers had blocked access to the parking lot and the Delhi Police had put up barriers, closing off the parking lot for the duration of Dussehra celebrations. The issue was taken up during a hearing on the implementation of the Chandni Chowk redevelopment plan. The Ramlila performance and the fair are held at the surface level of the parking lot. North corporation counsel Madhu Tewatia assured the court that permission to hold celebrations had been given only for the surface level.
