The Times of India            13.12.2010

MCD fails to keep its Parking Promises

For several years now, MCD in its budget presentation has been listing the same projects as a solution to the parking mess in the city. In fact, some of the projects, which were conceived in 2003 but are yet to materialise, continue to find mention in MCD's dossier on development work that it intends to carry out every year.

The proposed budget presentation for 2011-2012 includes parking projects like 16 automated multi-level car parking lots, originally planned in 2003, and 21 conventional car parking lots proposed in 2007. Of the automated parking sites, only the one at Kamala Nagar has seen some progress with tenders yet to be floated for the other 15. Officials says Kamla Nagar project will be completed by December 2011, four years after its foundation stone was laid. As far as conventional parking sites are concerned, work has started only at 13. Four of these lots — Parade Ground, Hauz Khas, Munirka, Model Town — are likely to be completed by June 2011.

'' In new budget plan, we have proposed 8,000 additional parking facilities in the city by next year. These facilities include the automated multi-level parking sites, conventional and stack parking and strip parking, which will include different types of parking along the 2,800 commercial and mixed land use streets in the city,'' said an MCD official.

Jagdish Mamgain, chairman of works committee, acknowledged only 10-20 % work has been completed at the proposed parking lots in the city. But he blamed MCD's executive wing for the delay. '' The timeline given for completion of projects by officials is not realistic. They do not take into account various clearances required from other agencies and delays that are likely due to shifting of various services like water and electrical wires etc,'' said Mamgain.

Officials claim political wing is equally to blame as it announces projects in a hurry. '' In many cases, the projects are at an initial stage and yet politicians go out and make public announcements. No realistic analysis is done on whether these projects are feasible or not. Even as a two-year deadline is given for completion of most of the parking projects from the time of announcement , it takes a year just to get get a project cleared from MCD's standing committee and issue tenders,'' said an official.

Giving the example of Kamla Nagar, the official added that just shifting electricity poles and other services from the site took one year. '' Nearly a year spent on getting clearances from various agencies before the work could begin,'' said the official.

The MCD was supposed to have constructed two stack parking sites at Karol Bagh and Paharganj before the Games but these projects were put on hold as MCD was not happy with '' the quality of work.'' It is also yet to provide parking along the 2,800 commercial streets. '' Out of the 245 surface parking sites in the city, 180 are still awaiting approval from traffic police ,'' said an official.