Parking lot in Kamla Nagar starts functioning
The much-awaited state-of-the-art multi-level car parking lot at Kamla Nagar in North Delhi has finally started functioning, even though work is still going on in three of its floors. This first automated parking lot of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) was inaugurated on Sunday, the 16th September, by BJP president Rajnath Singh.
Delay in completion
The parking lot in Kamla Nagar was initiated in 2007 and Lieutenant Governor Tejendra Khanna had laid the foundation stone, but the construction work started only after three years in March 2010.
It took more than three years to develop the parking site in collaboration with a private contractor SMS Infrastructure. The project was delayed due to various issues. Four of the seven floors of the parking lot have started working now. It would require a couple of months more for the entire project to be ready.
About the parking lot
The parking lot has been developed over an area sprawling across 3,192 sq m. It includes seven levels, of which only four have started working, and six elevators. The entry and exit of vehicles would be of state-of-the-art type. Various facilities including CCTV cameras, 100 percent power backup, audio link and fire extinguishers, etc.
The parking lot can hold at least 828 cars as well as 300 two-wheelers. Since three floors are still under construction, it would take few more months to hold this number of vehicles.
The project cost till now has summed up to about Rs 200 crore.
Parking and traffic issues in Kamla Nagar to reduce
Kamla Nagar is a well-known commercial area of North Delhi. Bad traffic condition is among the major challenges that the area has been facing so far and as a solution to this issue, the MCD planned to construct the huge underground parking in centre of the market to improve traffic conditions at Bada Gole Chakkar (Spark, Kamla Nagar). Since it is an old area and lack enough place for parking, the residents, shoppers and shopkeepers park their vehicles in an abrupt manner leading to traffic disorder and parking issues.
However, since the parking lot is now operational, the visitors and residents of Kamala Nagar are hoping to see reduced traffic congestion and parking problems in this area. Once the parking lot is fully ready, the traffic scenario would be even better.
Automated Parking System
An automated parking system (APS) is a mechanical system designed to minimize the area required for parking cars. Besides land area, it also saves time spent in searching for empty parking slots and then in searching for the parked- car. It uses a mechanical system to move cars to and from parking spaces, by means of which the vehicles will be placed in the vacant slot automatically.
In cities like Delhi, where vacant land is difficult to find, multi-level car parking sites prove to be very useful. The car owners/drivers or motorists have to leave their cars/bikes at the lower ground level and a ticket will be issued to them. Then the vehicle will be automatically shifted to the location mentioned on the ticket. Similarly, while getting the vehicle back, after verifying the token number, the car/motorcycle is moved to the exit gate.
Many more parking sites to come up
Delhi has almost double the number of vehicles compared to other Indian cities, and stands atop in issues related to parking space. A decade ago, the MCD had proposed to build 16 multi-level parking sites in Delhi, of which only few are nearing completion. Few parking lots are under construction while most of them are still struggling in the initial levels.
The parking sites were planned to be built at localities including Sarojini Nagar, Baba Kharak Singh Marg, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Karol Bagh, Karampura, Qutab Road, Lakar Mandi, Kirti Nagar, Padam Singh Road, GK II, Lajpat Nagar, GK-I, Defence Colony, Shastri Park, Rani Bagh and South Extn, etc. The Baba Kharak Singh Marg and the Sarojini Nagar parkings seem to be being under-utilised. The NDMC seems to be in a hurry to complete the parking projects before the assembly elections. South Corporation has also recently announced that the work orders have been issued for parking projects at Munirka, Defence Colony and Subhash Nagar.
