NEW DELHI: For those who face parking hassles every day, Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has a solution.The public transport operator has decided to allow private vehicles to be parked inside the depots during the day when the buses are out ferrying passengers. The vehicles will be allowed to be parked between 9am and 7pm and the parking operator will be liable to pay a heavy penalty if the space is not handed over back to the depot officials – empty, neat and clean – at the decided time.Officials said 41 bus depots and maintenance sheds spread across the city have been identified for the purpose. All these depots are located in high population density areas. They are close to commercial pockets to ensure there is a high footfall of motorists. Among the depots identified are Kalkaji, Ambedkar Nagar, Okhla, Nehru Place, Sriniwaspuri, Sarojini Nagar, Noida, Hari Nagar, Mayapuri, Shadipur, Dwarka and Rohini, all of which are in the middle of commercial and residential areas and have a huge demand for surface parking.“We have started the process to get the parking operators on board. An open tender has been floated. We hope to open the bus depots for people to park their private vehicles within a couple of months,” said an official.“The contract will be given for two years and can be extended thrice for a period of one year each,” the official added.The parking charges will be determined as per the prevalent rates fixed by the MCD and NDMC.DTC has been contemplating using its allotted space to set up depots for commercial purposes for a long time. There have been several plans to build multi-level parking spaces at the bus depots and use them for commercial purposes as well in order to generate revenue, but the projects are stuck due to technical issues.Officials said allowing private parking inside is easily doable and will get some money to the cash-strapped public transport operator. Most of the depots have at least five acres of land space allotted to them. DTC had allowed private parking in 16 of its depots in 2004 but the project didn’t continue for long.Officials said the parking operators will not be allowed to raise any permanent structure. “We will allow them to paint the surface to earmark the parking area and install signage with clear details of total parking area, timings, charges and contact number of the operator,” said an official.Another official said the parking operators will also have to maintain a register with the details of the vehicles and their owners who park on a monthly basis, along with documentary proof of ownership, and submit a copy to the office of DTC every month.“The operators will also have to install CCTV cameras and provide its feed to DTC,” said the official.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/soon-you-can-park-your-vehicle-at-a-dtc-depot/articleshow/97783295.cms