After seeking ownership of roads that are more than 60 feet wide, the Delhi government has now staked claim over all the parking sites — numbering around 255 — along them.
The new demand was put forth by the government in a Special Task Force meeting called by Chief Secretary P K Tripathi last week. At present, the parking sites fall under the ambit of the city’s civic administration. “We decided that after handing over the roads, the government should carry out tasks relating to maintainance, repairs and sanitation. After this, the issue of transferring parking lots was also raised,” Municipal Commissioner K S Mehra told Newsline.
Delhi has over 499 major roads that are more than 60 feet in width. Besides ground-level parking areas, many multi-level underground parking facilities can be found along these roads.
Officials said transferring parking lots to the Delhi government would adversely affect MCD coffers. “The civic body earns a profit of nearly 135 crore from parking amenities. If they are handed over to the Delhi government, we will end up losing a lot of revenue,” a senior civic official said.
The MCD has other issues too. “The state wants the MCD to transfer all the parking lots to them. But there are several legalities attached to the issue. Most of the parking lots operators have a fixed contract with MCD, extending up to 3-4 years. So, we will have discuss legal issues first, considering that the parking lot operators may go to court against the decision,” Additional Commissioner Manish Gupta said.
… contd.