Indian Express 29.09.2009
Weddings to cost more as MCD raises rates for some parks
Getting married in Delhi might soon get dearer as the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has decided to increase booking rates of certain parks.
For a start, the charges — daily booking rates are up from Rs 5,000 to Rs 30,000 — have been raised for 14 parks across the city, officials said. The civic agency is also planning to increase the booking rate of Punjabi Bagh stadium to Rs 30,000 for each part of the stadium.
“There is lot of pressure for booking the stadium at Punjabi Bagh,” a senior MCD official said, “and compared to the demand, the rates we charge are quite low. The civic body, thus, barely manages to make any money from renting out the premises.”
The official said most people who book the stadium for weddings have a huge budget and can afford the increasing rates. Explaining that there are still many options for people who cannot afford the hike, the official said, “We have more than 684 parks where we still charge Rs 1,000 or thereabouts.”
Senior MCD officials said the tent mafia is making huge profits from bookings made at all these parks.
Municipal Commissioner K S Mehra said: “Residents are charged exorbitant amount by the tent mafia but we are not making any profit. These tent mafias don’t remove their tents after the function is over and use it for holding other functions but they don’t pay us.
“We have also proposed to charge them Rs 30,000 if they fail to remove the tent after a particular function is over.”
The penalty is steeper if tents are not removed in time at the Punjabi Bagh stadium — officials said it is being increased to Rs 50,000. A proposal in this regard was tabled in the MCD Standing Committee meeting recently. But several municipal councillors raised certain objections to the plan, officials said.
A committee has now been constituted to take a final decision. “The committee will submit its findings within a month,” Standing Committee chairman Ram Kishan Singhal said.
Dearer parks
* Ajmal Khan park (parks I, II and IV)
* Traffic training park, Children’s Park
* Dussehra ground park, Vikaspuri
* Dussehra ground park, opposite Rajdhani Tent House Lawn near Vikaspuri
* Timar Market, Kirti Nagar
* Lawn number 1, near Ring Road, Punjabi Bagh
* Park in Pi-LU block, Part II, Pitampura
* C-4 block, Keshavpuram
* Two parks in New Friends Colony
