Motorists drive past parking facility, choose to leave vehicles on road

Earlier this year, city’s biggest automated parking lot was inaugurated at Baba Kharak Singh Marg with an aim to free-up road space for traffic movement and provide a secure parking facility for motorists.

Almost six months since its June inauguration, the parking lot has not been able to touch even the 400-cars-parked mark on any single day. Spread over 3.65 lakh sq feet, the parking facility can accommodate 1,408 vehicles.

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) had joined hands with DLF, the private concessionaire responsible for the construction and maintenance of the facility, to bring the parking troubles in Connaught Place and neighbouring areas to an end.

But even now, drivers continue to park their vehicles on both sides of Baba Kharak Singh Marg and the parking mess in Connaught Place is no different.

To push up the number of users of the parking facility, the NDMC scrapped surface parking on Baba Kharak Singh Marg about two months ago. But that has not changed the status of the automated parking facility.

Project head of the DLF parking facility Benu Sehgal said: “We will say that a paradigm shift is needed to make the parking lot successful. NDMC could have been rigorous in asking people to park here. The government should help us to make the parking lot successful by enforcing its decision of curbing illegal parking near the multi-level parking and generating awareness among public by bringing in public figures.”

To encourage

... contd.