The crunch in parking space has affected not only car owners but also those in charge of providing parking space in the city. Civic authorities say they are hard-pressed to meet the ever-increasing demand for parking space while discouraging illegal parking and overcharging by the mafia. To rein in the mafia,the South corporation has decided to make hand-held devices for parking slips compulsory. Each parking lot will be allotted two-three hand-held devices. One such device can store 1,000 entries at a time,which will be fed to a server instantly, an official said. Any parking contractor penalised for five violations will be blacklisted and barred from getting any new contract. Major violations will include overcharging,non-use of hand-held device and allowing more vehicles to park in a lot than the number authorised,among others. Civic corporations are incurring huge losses with illegal parking lots sprouting all over the city and parking attendants charging more than the official rates from car owners. According to Standing Committee Chairperson Ram Kishan Singhal,North corporation was losing Rs 1 crore every day,thanks to the parking mafia. Allotted parking space is less compared to demand. The parking mafia is taking advantage of this. It needs to be dealt with immediately, he said,adding that zonal offices of civic corporations and the traffic police were responsible for curbing illegal parking and punishing contractors who allow more cars to be parked than those authorised or those who overcharge. Corporation staff are heavily outnumbered when it comes to taking on the parking mafia. South corporation officials said they had just three staff to check illegal parking and other violations. We have two lower-division clerks and one upper-division clerk in the enforcement cell to check violations. We need at least 20 people as revenue earned from parking lots is a major source of income for the corporation, said Mukesh Yadav,Director (press and information),South corporation. According to Yogendra Mann,North Corporation Director (press and information),though they too were short of staff,it was the duty of the zonal staff and traffic police too to check illegal parking. We have officers at zonal offices, he said. But a senior official at the zonal office countered that they supervise many departments like licencing,advertisements,tehbazari,encroachment and illegal construction other than parking and were thus overworked. It is very strange that the Remunerative Projects (RP) cell that deals with parking lots is kept out of such projects. The project department and the engineering department construct parking lots,which are delayed for years. Because of this delay in construction,Delhi residents are facing a shortage of parking space. By the time a parking lot is ready,there is need for more space, Ashish Sood,Chairperson,RP cell,said. South corporation is set to cover the Nauroji Nagar drain running from Africa Avenue Marg to Ring road and use the covered space for parking. To create more parking space,the corporation will also cover an open sewerage drain that runs between the Saket district centre and the Saket court. The parking lot will accommodate 2,000 cars. THE WORST-HIT ARE MARKET PLACES Market places like Lajpat Nagar,South Extension,Karol Bagh and Chandni Chowk,among others,are the worst hit when it comes to shortage of parking space. Due to heavy footfall,having enough space for parking is always a challenge and this gives rise to various violations on the part of contractors and parking attendants. I receive numerous complaints from residents,traders and visitors against contractors and attendants that these people overcharge them for parking their cars, says Kavita Malhotra,Councillor,Lajpat Nagar. The constant stress of Delhis traffic compounded with parking woes has forced many to abandon their cars for commuting. Like Sanjay Bhatnagar,who now takes the Metro from Green Park to the Walled City,where he works as a trader. Its a complete jungle out there. Post 11 am,its impossible to find a space to park. Besides,in a cramped place like Chandni Chowk,driving a car doesnt make sense. Apart from a lack of space,theres also the fear of the vehicle getting stolen. So I take the Metro instead, he says. Old Delhi has many parking lots like the ones in Gandhi grounds,Dangal Maidan and Church mission road to name a few but according to local residents,these are not enough to meet the growing need for parking spaces. Most importantly,they are not safe, says Mohammad Amir,a local trader. A parking spot was recently inaugurated in Parade grounds but you only have surface parking there, he adds. So,many traders prefer to commute by the Metro. But with Metro trains also running packed to capacity these days,many traders are again reverting back to travelling in their own vehicles. Three years ago,it made sense to travel by the Metro. But now,theres so much crowd in the trains that I prefer to travel on my bike, says Mansoor Ahmed,who travels from Seelampur to Chandni Chowk every day. Te worst-hit are market places Q & A Councillors promise new parking lots Councillors have been complaining about illegal parking and how it is resulting in revenue losses to the corporation. What measures is the North corporation taking to deal with the problem? Master Azad Singh (Mayor,North corporation): We had a discussion on the parking problems,where councillors highlighted the problem of illegal parking and overcharging by the mafia,which they said had been going on for a long time in their areas. I have directed the commissioner to streamline the parking issue on a priority basis. Plus,anyone who is found violating government guidelines will be penalised. How is the East corporation dealing with the problem of parking space shortage? Ram Narain Dubey (Mayor,East corporation): There are limited number of authorised parking sites in East Delhi and,with many unauthorised colonies,the problem posed by the growing number of vehicles is acute. But to tackle this problem,we have started working on many new parking sites. Underground parking lots are also in the pipeline. As the new policy is yet to come into effect,what are the complaints that you receive? Sarita Choudhary (Mayor,South corporation): The problem of illegal parking in South is very serious. The traffic police has a major role in checking illegal parking and we need NOC from them to provide more parking lots.
