It's a squeeze to park at busy markets

Travelling by Metro is not as comfortable as in a car at her age. But Vijay Ahuja, in her early 60s, and her husband now prefer to opt for a Metro ride when they visit Connaught Place.

“Isn’t it a known fact? Finding a parking space in Connaught Place is impossible. On days my husband drives us to the market, we have to walk the entire stretch from the parking lot to the main area. If we manage to find a driver for the day, it is easier. Today, we came to meet a friend who is putting up at a hotel in Connaught Place and took the Metro to reach here,” says Ahuja, a resident of Noida.

Hemant Sharma, whose office is in the outer circle of Connaught Place, finds it easier to find space to park his two-wheeler rather than his car. “Initially, I did the mistake of commuting by car. Nowadays, it is either the Metro or my bike,” says Sharma, who commutes from airport area.

Parking in New Delhi Municipal Council marketplaces seem to be no better. Connaught Place, Palika Bazaar, Janpath – the nodal markets of the city – remain congested with unauthorised parking and an increasing number of vendors who do not hold licence to operate. With the number of vendors multiplying, pedestrians complain there is little space to walk.

“Finding parking lots in Connaught Place will be a major issue till the roads remain choked with vendors. It is difficult to walk in the market area. We have repeatedly communicated to the NDMC about this difficulty. But nothing is being done to clamp down on unauthorised vendors,” says B S Kohli, chairperson, Palika Bazaar Shopkeepers’ Welfare Association.

Multi-level parking
Abitrary parking also continues to be a major issue in these areas. Commercial taxis and autos park on the streets to attract customers.

“Earlier, I used to run an auto. Later, I bought a car which I now run as a commercial taxi. I park it on this side of the street (outside the Emporia Complex, Connaught Place) as my regular customers know I park my car here,” says Ashwani Kumar, a commercial taxi driver.

The NDMC’s multi-level parking (MLP) at Baba Kharak Singh Marg continues to be underutilised. Currently, DLF’s concessionaire-run multi-level parking project has less than 30 per cent occupancy.

While the MLP at Baba Kharak Singh Marg has a capacity to accommodate 1,408 vehicles, the Sarojini Nagar parking lots can accommodate 824 cars. Both the projects have failed to attract takers. 

“There is less than 30 per cent occupancy at the Baba Kharak Singh Marg project and also at the Sarojini Nagar multi-level parking project. We are reviewing the conditions behind the low occupancy. A change in also needed in public behaviour so that occupancy can improve. They should be more patient while parking in the lots,” says Neeraj Bharti, director, NDMC enforcement department.

Traders point out the difficulties which customers face while parking vehicles in the MLPs.

“There are technical glitches in the project. The lifts at the Sarojini Nagar multi-level parking lots are slow. Also, the road diversions are such that it is becomes difficult for visitors to gain entry to the mall with the parking. The NDMC needs to coordinate with the Traffic Police and resolve this problem,” says Pramod Sharma, president of Sarojini Nagar Traders’ Association.

In most cases, visitors prefer to park near the market as parking at the multi-level areas also mean a long walk from the spot, especially around Connaught Place.
“My son prefers to drop me at the main market instead of parking here. After I finish shopping, he comes and picks me up. It is extremely difficult to find parking space here,” says Saraswati Chakravarty, a resident of Uttam Nagar.

The NDMC is now drawing up plans in which the council will shift the traders’ monthly parking lots in Connaught Place to Shivaji Stadium MLP. Currently, this MLP has around 15 per cent occupancy. “We will begin with Connaught Place traders and later this model can be replicated in Sarojini Nagar market as well. Traders at Connaught Place will be offered free pick and drop service if this comes into effect,” says Bharti.

The Palika Bazaar MLP with capacity for 975 vehicles is the only successful one among the council’s projects, according to traders.

However, creating more parking lots is not on the council’s agenda, according to senior NDMC officials. “We are looking at options for maximum utilisation of the existing parking lots. More parking lots cannot resolve the existing issues,” says a senior official.

The NDMC is even considering doing away with parking lots from the market area at a later stage as a part of the smart city project. However, traders have appealed against this.

The NDMC had earlier roped in the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) for upgrading its existing parking lots. DIMTS had identified 99 parking lots, of which over 90 have been taken over by it.

DIMTS has installed boom barriers marking out entry and exit points at the lots. This has also put an end to the parking mafia system, according to users.

“It is much smoother to park cars now with boom barriers installed on the surface parking system. The charges are not arbitrary anymore,” says Naresh Verma, a trader at Mohan Singh Place Complex, Baba Kharak Singh Marg.

“This has improved things for us as customers often haggled with us over payment earlier. Now with computerised sessions, nobody can accuse us of overcharging,” says Naresh Kumar, unit manager at Baba Kharak Singh Marg surface parking.

However, the state of some parking lots continues to be sorry. The underground parking at Baba Kharak Singh Mark outside Emporia Complex remains littered and has security issues.

“Visitors do not want to park their cars over security issues. Not only has it been turned into a dumpyard but there is no proper lighting,” said Kumar.
DIMTS has installed LED boards and also launched an application which will notify visitors of the vacancy at the parking lots.

“This has definitely improved visitors’ experience. DIMTS will come up with more boards to resolve existing parking woes,” says the senior official.