The Hindu      23.03.2016   

Parking rate hiked in Hauz Khas

Users of the surface-level parking at Hauz Khas market will have to shell out Rs.100 from Wednesday, with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) hiking the charges in the hope that the multi-level facility at the market gets more takers.

The multi-level lot, where the parking charge is Rs. 20 per hour, has been under-utilised since it opened last year, as visitors to the market prefer to park on the road.

“The multi-level parking lot at E-Block market is not fully utilised. People park on the roads, which leads to congestion as well,” said SDMC Standing Committee chairperson Radhey Shyam Sharma.

He was speaking at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Tuesday, when the civic body also decided to give 68 of its 146 parking sites to the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) on a pilot basis. The 68 sites had been running free of charge as efforts to get contractors had failed.

These sites caused the SDMC a loss of Rs.50 crore in this financial year. Commissioner Puneet Kumar Goel said the sites would be run by DIMTS for a few months on a pilot basis, before the contract was given.