The parking troubles at the busy Lajpat Nagar market are set to end soon. The Delhi government is in the process of drafting a comprehensive transport policy and last week initiated work on replacing the existing parking facility at the market with sleek, new parking meters. The task force, constituted after a High Court order, has planned several measures to restrict easy or cheap access to parking in hope that it would discourage people from using private vehicles, which in turn will reduce traffic congestion.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) currently manages parking at Lajpat Nagar through contractors who issue tickets to car owners manually, often encroaching on pavements and road. The government has now asked the agency to vacate parking lots for the pilot project, Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta said. “They will have to figure out how the contractors are to be removed because the metered parking system cannot begin until that is done,” he said.

The parking meters will be built on German technology and car owners will have to deposit the money in the machines that will generate parking tickets for varying time periods. The parking time billed for will be printed on the tickets and car owners will be required to display it on the car’s dashboard.

The project’s feasibility and financial viability has been approved and a team from Dubai has already begun surveying parking space at the market, said T K Malhotra, president of the Automobile Association of Upper India, the non-governmental organisation executing the project. 

“The existing system is chaotic as parking spills over on the road. Right now we are assessing how many cars can be accommodated as per rules,” Malhotra said. He, however, added that it was not clear as yet how long it would take to put the new system will be in place.

Slots for cars will be clearly marked, Malhotra said, and initial plans are to install one parking meter for 50 cars. “A car owner can take a ticket from a parking meter installed anywhere in the market,” Malhotra added.

The meters will be programmed and connected to the parking slots in a way that they will keep a record of occupancy and a car owner will be able to see on the meter whether or not space is available, he said.

“This way, the parking area will not be chaotic as there will be no overload. Car owners will simply drive away from the entry point in case the meter shows full occupancy,” Malhotra said. Every meter will be equipped with sensors and a camera and will be fixed deep into the ground with concealed nuts and bolts to avoid theft. “If someone still manages to steal it, we can track the machine with the help of a global positioning system device that will be installed in the machine,” he said.