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Corporations/ Associations/ Others | Delhi - India | PID: 188387
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The North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) has started working on area parking plan to make areas under its jurisdiction more pedestrian-friendly
The decision was taken after getting a positive response for initiating a pilot project on decongestion in Karol Bagh, a senior corporation official said, adding that the civic body now planning to expand the scheme to other areas to promote use of public transport and make market areas more pedestrian-friendly
The official said that the expansion of the project will happen after polls and basic groundwork is being done at present
NMC Commissioner Varsha Joshi told The Pioneer "We are working on area parking plans and improving other facilities in Kirti Nagar and Kamla Nagar market areas in consultation with the market associations and other stakeholders". Joshi said that the idea is to decongest the area and to make it more attractive for the visitors
Seeking to promote use of public transport and make commercial areas pedestrian-friendly, the north corporation has hiked parking fees for using Karol Bagh Street. Prior to that a stretch of Ajmal Khan Road in the area was pedestrianised
The approval for the project and on parking fee hike was taken just before the elections dates were announced. Ajmal Khan Road for decades has been clogged with traffic and haphazard parking inconveniencing visitors," the official said
This project had been first conceptualised in 2010 but could not take off for some reasons. So, we picked up this zone as soon I took charge at NDMC, and engaged with market associations and created off-street parking spaces by utilising old, defunct municipal spaces," Joshi told
Joshi said, the project could not have been executed without arranging alternative parking spaces, and so, off-street parking zones were built in a couple of places nearby, adding, the idea is to enhance shopping experience and encourage walking among people
"About 600 metre of the Ajmal Khan Road has been pedestrianised, rest of it being done. People were taken by surprise, as we did most of the work at night time, from installing benches to painting kerbs, etc," she said
visitors were taken by surprise when they found a stretch of the nearly one-km road decongested, and pavements lined with benches and the street decorated with flower pots
The street has been marked with yellow and white stripes demarcating space for hawkers. Besides, bollards have been put at the entry points of Ajmal Khan Road - on Pusa Road and Arya Samaj Road - to restrict entry of vehicles to the road
In pursuance of its pilot project to decongest Karol Bagh and disincentivise use of private cars, the NMC has increased surface parking rates on portion of the Arya Samaj Road
The civic agency has increased the parking charge for cars from Rs 20 to Rs 40 for the first hour. For the second hour, the charge will be Rs 50; between two and three hours, the rate will be Rs 60; between three and five hours, it will be Rs 70; and for over five hours, the charge will be Rs 300
Also, instead of perpendicular parking, parallel parking is being implemented to give more access of the Arya Samaj road to pedestrians, the commissioner said
We are testing waters, and perhaps would like to really scale up to include all major market areas in north Delhi in future. Walking is a pleasant experience and when people are at ease, they shop more. So, shopkeepers also should know that it is a win-win situation," she told
The Shahjahanabad Redevelopment Corporation has also launched a similar project to remove vehicles from Chandni Chowk, and work on which is currently underway
| Updated on: 07 - May - 2019
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