Civic bodies in Delhi will levy one-third charges for multilevel parking facilities compared to surface parking rates, in accordance with the parking management area plan (PMAP) for the Capital, an official said on Wednesday.

The PMAP, which is being firmed up by the Delhi government, seeks to decongest the city and also make it pedestrian-friendly. The South Delhi Municipal Corporation is the nodal agency for the PMAP, which also includes disallowing parking within 25 metres from roundabouts and traffic intersections, an official said.

“The idea is to come up with a holistic parking policy for the city, which also addresses the needs of pedestrians. We also want to discourage long-term surface parking and incentivise multilevel parking to keep the city decongested,” said Deputy Commissioner (R.P. Cell) Prem Shankar Jha.

“The proposals made by us [SDMC] have been taken up positively by the Delhi government’s Transport Department. The policy is yet to be notified,” he said.

Parking charges

Current parking charges for North, East and South Delhi Municipal Corporations are Rs. 20 per hour for cars and Rs. 10 for two-wheelers. For 24 hours, it is subject to a maximum of Rs. 200 for cars and Rs. 100 for two-wheelers.

“Lajpat Nagar and Kailash Colony in south Delhi have been identified for model parking facilities, which will be developed according to the parking plan. The plan also envisage addressing the problem of spillover of vehicles,” Mr. Jha said.

“The plan has three segments — parking, non-parking and transit. The transit segment will be for autorickshaws, cabs and commercial vehicles which will be used as pick-up and drop-off facilities. Besides, there will be pedestrianised spaces for ease of people,” Mr. Jha added.

With the onset of monsoon, Mysuru’s rain preparedness seems to have been stepped up with the Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) cleaning up stormwater drains across the city on a war-footing.

As silt in drains is the main cause for floods, officials are busy with removing silt from 70-km long stormwater drains.

The ongoing work here gains significance as clogged drains in Mangaluru were said to be behind the rain damage in the coastal city.

Already, pre-monsoon showers and rain, owing to low pressure in the Arabian Sea, have been lashing the city for the past many days.

MCC Commissioner K.H. Jagadish told The Hindu that the work is under way in areas in low-lying areas.

Among nine zones in the MCC limits, storm water drains run across all zones barring Zone 5. The longest running drain is located in Zone 9 which has a length of 20.9 km.

He said the Superintendent Engineer, MCC is supervising the works which are coordinated by the respective heads of the Zones. “I have inspected the works which are being undertaken simultaneously, and they are in various stages of completion. Before the monsoon gets active, the work will be done,” he replied.

Silt is also being removed from manholes as there are possibilities of storm water entering the UGD lines. Blocked UGD lines, if any, are also getting cleared using machines.

“Since the dredging work has been taken up on a priority basis, we are completing 60 percent work with extra men and machinery employed to complete the job before the monsoon peaks in,” the Commissioner said.

The Commissioner also said that weak and dried tree branches are being trimmed to prevent them from falling on electrical lines.

“We are also awaiting permission from the Forest Department for uprooting dead trees which pose threat to public safety. On getting the nod, such trees would be cleared.”

Mr. Jagadish said that three ‘abhaya’ (rapid response) teams will be working round-the-clock, in different shifts, to attend to rain-related emergencies.

In case of trees uprooting in the night, the team will make arrangements for clearing the traffic.

Two teams will remain as stand-by for attending to complaints of UGD in the event of heavy rains and to clear blockages in the drains, he added.