The Hindu              16.08.2013

Stack parking coming soon to Karol Bagh

The stack parking facility on Sat Bhirawan Road in Karol Bagh will be operational by the end of this month. The project was supposed to be completed before the Commonwealth Games in 2010.

The parking project, which has missed several deadlines since 2009 when it was conceptualised, is expected to be inaugurated on August 31.

The Municipal Councillor from Karol Bagh area, Rajesh Bhatia, told The Hindu that the the project is almost complete. “Only a no-objection certificate from the Delhi Fire Service is required, which we are expecting to get in a week or so. After that the parking space will be ready for use,” said Mr. Bhatia.

The councillor said in the absence of new parking facilities in the area, the problem of congestion has been compounded.

“The footfall in the Karol Bagh market has seen manifold increase because of which new parking spaces are urgently needed. The stack parking project has been pending for the past four years mainly due to the lackadaisical attitude of officials. After I raised the issue with the political leadership of the civic body, the project has thankfully been completed now,” Mr. Bhatia said.

“The project was planned for the Commonwealth Games, but we could not start it due to legal issues. I have taken up the issue of more parking spaces with the North Delhi Municipal Corporation and soon new surface-level parking sites will be identified,” he said.

Traders in Karol Bagh are eagerly awaiting the opening of the facility.

While around Rs. 29 crore has been collected from the traders in parking charges by the Municipal Corporation, there has hardly been any addition to the parking facilities in the area. A multi-level parking project proposed under the public private partnership model at Shastri Park in Karol Bagh has failed to take off.

As for the stack parking project, which allows for parking of cars at three vertical levels, some traders insist that it was planned in a hurry and therefore ran into trouble. “The facility was constructed on a road and thus had an obstructive effect,” said a trader. The facility, which will offer space for 90 cars, was to come up at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh. But, it got entangled in a court case as a trader approached the Delhi High Court and after the matter was resolved in August 2010, it was put on hold due to the Commonwealth Games.