NDMC to upgrade parking lots to manage chaos

New Delhi: The New Delhi Municipal Council has set the ball rolling for modernisation of its old parking lots which will include computerised facility and an online booking system.

The plan will be first initiated at Janpath and the parking lots at Connaught Place's A-block, NDMC officials said. The civic body then plans to extend the computerised parking system in other NDMC areas which remain busy throughout the day such as Khan Market, Sarojini Nagar market, Dilli Haat, and Shankar Market.

The new facility will include an online booking system wherein the vehicle owners can book parking lots through the NDMC website. Charges will be applicable on the basis of the duration for which the vehicle was parked by the driver. Drivers can buy a 'park card' to use the facility. The registration number of the vehicle will be scanned and the in-time will be recorded, they said.

The plan was conceived last year to end the perennial problem of chaos in the parking lots in the busy market areas and overcharging by private parking contractors, officials said. NDMC has handed over the project to the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS), which is carrying out a feasibility survey in 99 of 103 parking lots in areas under the jurisdiction of the municipal body.

"We have handed over the project to DIMTS. It is conducting a field study and the new system will be implemented in the next 5-7 days. We were waiting for the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi to get over," NDMC chairperson Jalaj Srivastava said.

"The plan is to bring in the billboard system which will be continuously updating the space available in a particular parking lot. A vehicle will not be able to enter the lot if it is full and an automated computerised board will show the next available spot to the driver," Srivastava said.

Alleging that parking mafia currently allow vehicles to enter parking areas even after the lots are filled, he said the new system will bring in order to chaos. The parking facility is already available in other metropolitan cities like Bangalore and is convenient for vehicles owners. Also, hand-held devices will be provided at 73 parking spaces as a fall-back mechanism to issue parking tickets.