New Delhi, Oct 23 (IANS): The Delhi government is planning area parking in consultation with Residential Welfare Associations (RWAs), market associations and taking into account last mile connectivity, state Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said on Friday.
"Area Parking plans are not just about parking vehicles, but about improving the quality of life and making life easier for the public using public spaces. Vendors, non motorised transport, parks and recreational spaces find a crucial place in these plans," he said after chairing first meeting of the Apex Monitoring Committee of the "Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules, 2019".
"The focus is on decongesting our roads and increasing walkability, and I'm sure that once all stakeholders start working towards this shared goal, we will have a more breathable Delhi that belongs to motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians alike. I also urge the citizens to park responsibly and try to switch to EVs, and most importantly use more public transport, which will address a lot of these issues from the grass root level," Gahlot said.
A Transport Department release said: "During the meeting, the MCDs and Traffic Police also shared their concerns over encroachments and unauthorised parking of vehicles. Enforcement and regulatory provisions under the Rules including rationalisation of parking charges, towing charges, uniformity across civic authorities for on and off street, indoor parking among various categories of vehicles were also deliberated upon."
The Delhi Maintenance and Management of Parking Places Rules was notified in September 2019. As per its Rule 3, civic agencies are responsible for making required arrangement of parking in their respective jurisdiction, including preparing and implementing area parking plans.
The Delhi Electric Vehicle policy 2020 also mandates that 5 per cent of parking space in all new construction will be reserved for electric vehicles.
"The government is also considering provision for reservation of EV parking spaces in existing buildings too. The MCDs also conveyed that about 200+ EV charging points at various locations are already being made operational across Delhi. The possibilities of using geospatial data to map EV user coordinates and plot influence area with owner coordinates for developing private charging clusters was also discussed," the statement added.
Stakeholders including senior officials from Transport, Traffic Police, all three Municipal Corporations of Delhi (MCDs), Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and UTTIPEC, Delhi Cantonment Board, Public Works Department (PWD) and Urban Development (UD) were part of the Committee.