Delhi authorities are preparing 79 new parking sites, seeking uniform parking fees across civic and transport agencies and planning a coordinated crackdown on illegal parking to reduce pressure on city roads. The measures were discussed at a high-level meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor T S Sandhu on Thursday, according to a report by Jagran – New Delhi.
The plan focuses first on improving the use of existing parking facilities operated by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the New Delhi Municipal Council and the Delhi Development Authority. Several existing sites are not being used to their full capacity, and the agencies have been directed to maximise their utilisation before adding new facilities.
The proposed expansion will include smart parking systems, multilevel and stack parking facilities, and larger park-and-ride facilities at Delhi Metro stations. The authorities are also considering FASTag-based access, real-time slot tracking, sensor-based ticketing and mobile applications that show vacant parking spaces. The possibility of providing electric vehicle charging facilities at all parking sites will also be examined.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi currently has 463 parking sites, including 433 surface facilities and 30 multilevel or stack parking sites. Together, these facilities have capacity equivalent to 94,831 cars. The addition of 79 sites by December would take the total to 542. A further 14 multilevel and stack parking projects, with capacity for 6,052 cars, are under consideration.
The New Delhi Municipal Council has 126 parking sites and is preparing to connect them to an intelligent integrated parking system. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation has also been directed to expand park-and-ride facilities at its stations. At present, 127 of the 242 Metro stations across Delhi and the National Capital Region offer this service, with combined capacity for 14,426 cars, 1,09,250 two-wheelers and 11,309 bicycles.
Of the Metro-linked parking locations, 65 are smart parking sites and 52 are connected to the DMRC application. The figures indicate that parking capacity is distributed unevenly across the wider transport network, with two-wheelers accounting for the largest share of available park-and-ride spaces.
The meeting also highlighted substantial differences in parking charges. The MCD’s base rate for cars is Rs 20 per hour, while NDMC on-street parking costs Rs 50 per hour. DMRC charges Rs 30 for parking of up to six hours. The Lieutenant Governor directed the MCD, NDMC, DDA and DMRC to work towards a common fee structure.
Enforcement will form the second part of the plan. The MCD has proposed a special campaign in parking hotspots and major market areas from 15 October to 15 December, in coordination with the traffic police. Joint teams will be formed to prevent illegal parking outside multilevel facilities, while resident welfare associations and market organisations will be involved in the campaign.
Traffic police data cited in the report show that 13.34 lakh challans and 5.54 lakh notices were issued for illegal parking up to 5 October this year. During the same period, 1.24 lakh vehicles were towed, with 76 cranes deployed for enforcement.
The Lieutenant Governor has also directed officials to begin the process of creating an integrated parking authority for Delhi. The next steps involve coordinating the civic bodies, development authority, Metro agency and traffic police on parking capacity, fees, digital systems and enforcement.
