Farmhouses face threat of sealing

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

In the middle of the wedding season, a number of farmhouses in Delhi — that are popular venues for hosting parties — are about to be sealed. Delhi traffic police, with the consent of the state government, wants to seal farmhouses and motels that violate guidelines and cause inconvenience to motorists during wedding functions and other social gatherings.

According to guidelines, every farmhouse or motel rented out for a wedding ceremony or other social occasions, has to be built on at least 2.5 acres of land, of which minimum one acre is to be kept for parking vehicles.

Besides, these places have to be connected with the main road through a 60 ft approach road. No vehicle is allowed to be parked on the road, during any occasion.

"This year, we have identified 12 farmhouses and nine motels which violated conditions laid down in licences to hold social functions. We have sent the list to the commissioner, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), asking to either seal them or take immediate legal action against them," said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

Many farmhouses, owners of which rent them out for organising weddings or other social functions, without permission or no objection certificate of Delhi traffic police, have been identified.

A number of them were identified for parking vehicles on main or service roads, causing obstruction in traffic movement.

Nine of them are situated in the western range, while three are in the southern range, said the traffic police.

A list of nine motels indicated that all of them violated norms by parking vehicles on main road/service road, causing obstruction to traffic.

Of them, four are from western range and five from southern range.

"We have requested the additional commissioner of police (licencing) to cancel licences of these farmhouses and motels," said a traffic police officer.

Garg said the traffic department would deploy additional forces near farmhouses and motels during marriage seasons to keep an eye on them and zero in on violators.

"Traffic police, armed with video and still digital cameras, will be posted to take video footage and still images of the location where violations take place," he added.

Original news source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Farmhouses-face-threat-of-sealing/Article1-701174.aspx

Automated underground parking to ease traffic woes for shoppers

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Shoppers driving into the traffic clutter of GK-I, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar can soon forget about parking woes. No more shifting gears to slip into a narrow lane or haggling with parking attendants for space in the chaos. 

Now, you can just zoom down under - literally. An automated multi-level underground car parking will be built at all the three markets to ease the traffic pressure. The blueprint is ready and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has already received the financial bid for the Lajpat Nagar parking lot. This will soon get the nod from the finance department. 

At GK-I M Block and South Extension, the civic agency has also awarded the contract. Construction work will start in the next four-five months, said MCD officials. 

"We have received the financial bids for Lajpat Nagar. In a day or two, we will be sending the bid to the finance department. Parking in these three prominent markets is a huge problem. Multilevel parking will not only solve the problem, but also ease traffic flow in neighbouring areas. Shoppers often park their cars in residential areas next to the markets,'' said a senior MCD official. 

The projects include a nine-storeyed commercial complex with a seven-storeyed automated parking complex under the ground. "The two storeys above the ground will be used for commercial purpose. We want to keep the parking charges nominal. The companies can use the floors above the ground for commercial activity,'' said an MCD official. These parking lots will be machine-operated and car owners will be given a token after they park their vehicles near the lift. The car will be automatically parked in the empty space in the lot. A similar parking is under construction at Kamla Nagar market. 

At Lajpat Nagar, the multilevel parking will be constructed at a cost of Rs 85 crore. It will come up near Lajpat Nagar police station and will have space for nearly 500 cars. At present, the area near the Lajpat Nagar market is choc-a-block with cars. "The peak load requirement of the market area is 2,600 cars. At any point of time, there are nearly 2000 cars parked in the area, including 700-odd cars of shopkeepers. The ideal parking space (single-lane parking) is of 1,200 cars. But with more cars crammed in the area, traffic movement is slow and triggers jams,'' said a senior traffic official. Sometime back, the traffic police had made vehicular movement one-way, but still there are massive traffic jams during weekends. "A multilevel car parking will solve the parking problems,'' he said. 

Parking lots will be given to private construction companies on Built-Operate-Transfer basis for 35 years. And this includes the construction time. "This will ensure that the facilities are ready at the earliest, as the companies would like to begin operations soon," said Jagdish Mamgain, chairman, works committee, MCD. 

MCD officials said the agency will be earning revenue of Rs 70 crore from the South Extension parking and close to Rs 17 crore from GK-I M block parking. The entire cost of construction will be borne by the private companies. 

For GK-I and South Extension I &II, the civic agency has already awarded contracts to DSC Limited and Consolidated Construction Consortium Limited. "We are yet to sign the agreement with the company for GK-I parking, but for South Extension, the work has begun. The company is working on the blueprint and traffic plan, and will soon take the necessary approval from different agencies. The work is likely to begin in next four to five months,'' said Mamgain. As for approval from agencies like UTTIPEC and the environment department, MCD officials say it shouldn't be a problem. The Master Plan of Delhi 2021 has provision for underground car parking a these sites. 

At South Extension, parking will be constructed at three sites. "In South Ex-II, there is a sub-station right in the middle of the parking space, so we decided to construct two multilevel underground parking lots with capacity to park 500 and 550 cars. In total, South Ex will have parking space for 1600 cars,'' said an MCD official. Similarly, at GK-I, two separate parkings will be constructed at the site of the existing lot.

Original news source http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Automated-underground-car-parking-to-ease-traffic-woes-in-3-Delhi-markets/articleshow/8540635.cms

Traders, residents support Metro's 'monumental' line

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Delhi Metro's proposed line running through the Walled City area received unanimous support on Friday from the traders and residents, who also emphasised the need to integrate better parking facilities near the stations. The representatives aired their views and came up with a number of suggestions for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) at a meeting of the stakeholders.

Vijay Singh, who has been designated as the competent authority under the amended Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) Act, had called a meeting to discuss the Central Secretariat–Janpath–Mandi House–ITO–Delhi Gate–Jama Masjid–Red Fort–Kashmere Gate line of phase III.

The proposed alignment runs within a distance of 300 metres of a number of protected heritage sites, including the Red Fort and Delhi Gate. At a few places it runs less than 100 metres away from the monuments. An amendment in the ASI Act in March 2010 bans any construction within 100 metres in all directions of a protected heritage site, one of the primary reasons that prompted the meeting.

After a presentation, DMRC's deputy chief engineer Saleem Ahmad said, "Apart from giving the much-needed connectivity, we are hopeful that our new line will give the residents of the area and the visitors to heritage monuments clean surroundings and more green spaces."

Suggestions and questions started pouring in immediately even as every single speaker supported the Metro line. Tariq Bukhari from the historic Jama Masjid, suggested to integrate space for cycle rickshaws while planning the station there.

VM Mehta, president of the Old Lajpat Rai Market Association, asked if the digging up for the Red Fort station would eat into the upcoming surface car parking at the market? Informing about the ongoing court case with the authorities in connection with a parking plan for Tikona Park and Subhash Park, Pankaj Bhatnagar from Daryaganj said they should be involved while planning anything for that place.

Vijay Rustagi, president of the Daryaganj RWA, said, "If the new alignment is in the public interest and if the safety of the monuments is assured, there should be no harm in Metro coming here."

Renu Gupta, chairperson of the MCD's city zone, too expressed her support for the line. Apart from Gupta, conspicuous by their absence were women from the area.

Original news source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Traders-residents-support-Metro-s-monumental-line/Article1-700053.aspx

MCD making stilt parking provision mandatory for big plots

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Residents of the national capital will now have to keep a provision for developing parking space at ground level for getting sanction of building plans on plots measuring more than 100 square metres. Following a direction from the Lt Governor, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has issued a circular in this regard. According to it, keeping provision of stilt parking (ground level parking) has been made mandatory for residential plots of more than 100 sq metres and up to 1000 sq metres.Without this, the building plans will not be sanctioned. The sizes of the plot will determine the parking space that has to be created. For a plot measuring 100 square metres, two equivalent car spaces will have to be developed. Owners will have to comply and submit an affidavit to this effect, officials said. There is also a proposal to make the owners deposit a specified sum in a bank as a guarantee, to ensure that they do not cover the designated parking space after getting the building plan cleared.

Original news source http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/mcd-making-stilt-parking-provision-mandatory-for-big-plots/693772.html

Kalkaji to get underground multi-level parking facility in a year

Thursday, May 19, 2011

After a delay of nearly three years, Kalkaji in South Delhi is finally set to get a new underground parking lot that will be able to accommodate 376 cars. According to MCD officials, the parking system will be built on the lines of Palika Parking, managed by the New Delhi Municipal Council, in Connaught Place.

It will come up behind Deshbandhu College near Krishna Market on Main Kalkaji Road as part of the MCD's project to set up 22 parking sites across the Capital. There will be three parking levels, and the ground level will be developed into a green area. To be constructed at a cost of Rs 40 crore, the plot will be spread over 7,073.24 square metres.

For the last three years the project had been halted due to a delay in issuing tenders. It was finally issued in January 2010. But work was delayed again, after the MCD encountered problems over removing high-tension cables overhead. An MCD official said work has been stopped at present due to re-planting of trees. "It will take about a year to complete the project after work is taken up in a month or two," he said.

Work has been taken up on 13 of the 22 parking sites that have been identified, but work is going on at a snail's place even there. The Kalkaji project would be the fourteenth project to be taken up. Though work at four of the 13 sites — Parade Ground, Hauz Khas, Munirka and Model Town — were supposed to be completed by June, the completion deadline has now been extended to next year.

Parking lots are supposed to come up in Kalkaji, Shiva Market (Pitampura), Bhogal, Hauz Rani, Krishna Market near Preet Vihar, Rajouri Garden, Subhash Nagar, Q Block Pitampura, PVR Vasant Lok,PVR Saket, Malviya Nagar, Mohammad Pur near Bhikaji Cama Place, Janakpuri, Bhadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Friend's Colony, Ashok Vihar, Kailash Colony, Krishna Nagar, Hauz Khas, Munirka and Model Town II.

Two of the 22 projects — to be taken up at Mahavir Vatika in Gandhi Nagar and Ajmal Khan Road — have been dropped. "Work is going on at a very slow pace. Though it had announced in 2003 that 16 automated multi-level parking lots will come up in various parts of the city, it has started only at Kamla Nagar near Delhi University so far," said an MCD official.

Though the MCD was supposed to have constructed two parking lots in Karol Bagh and Paharganj before the Games, the projects were put on hold as the MCD was "not happy" with the quality of work. "Of the 245 surface parking sites in the city, 180 are still awaiting approval from the Traffic Police,'' an official said.

Original news source http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kalkaji-to-get-underground-multilevel-parking-facility-in-a-year/792825/0

Digicam is Delhi traffic police's new 'best friend'

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

After chase-and-challan, Delhi traffic police have adopted click-and-challan method to reduce traffic norm violations. Armed with digital video cameras, traffic policemen will soon be seen at all important intersections across the Capital — they will click pictures of traffic violators and then send notices to them with photographic evidence.

The traffic department had introduced the camera operated violation detection system at select intersections of central and southern range about a month ago on trial basis.

"We had introduced only 20 cameraman police to man some intersections in the two ranges a month ago and have already issued over 5,000 notices based on camera operated violation detection system. We will now expand the system in all the five ranges," said Satyendra Garg, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

The police are also identifying violation and accident-prone intersections in eastern, northern and western ranges.

"We have 200 odd digital cameras with us. Gradually we will introduce most of these cameras at intersections especially to curb the trend of stop line violation and driving on wrong carriageway. Besides, their presence would help us manage traffic during rallies, processions and also VIP movements. Managing traffic during morning and evening peak hours will also be easier," said Garg.

This process, believe traffic police, would help generating awareness about the presence of police's 'third eye' before the Intelligent Traffic System  comes in place.

Original news source http://www.hindustantimes.com/Digicam-is-Delhi-traffic-police-s-new-best-friend/Article1-699246.aspx

Drive Drunk and Land in Jail in Delhi

Thursday, April 21, 2011

In a drive to control the menace of drunk driving, the Delhi Police has swung into action and started enforcing the relatively new law which is  prevalent in a majority of other civilised nations and has jailed over a thousand people for drunk driving and suspended licenses of over 800 during the current year, sending out a clear warning to DUI drivers to mend their ways or else..  

 'With most of the drunk driving cases resulting in imprisonment besides license suspension and payment of fine, better sense is expected from the people of Delhi,' Joint Commissioner of Delhi Traffic Police Satyendra Garg told reporters on Saturday after  over 300 people were arrested in three hours. 'Continuing our efforts to rein in drunk driving, we had simultaneous checking at 50 locations and got 307 prosecutions in three hours,' Garg told reporters. Out of these, 195 were arrested for drunk driving.

Drunken driving is a non-compoundable offence with those caught sent directly to the court which determines the punishment. According to police, the vehicle is impounded when there is nobody else other than the drunk driver to drive it safely to its location. Driving license is required for handing over the vehicle and the person must not have consumed liquor. The violator is not allowed to drive a vehicle once he is detected to have consumed liquor beyond permissible limits.

Delhi Police is actively campaigning against drunk driving on various forums, including social websites like Facebook. A message posted by Garg on Delhi Traffic Police's Facebook page Friday read: 'The other day a friend of mine surprised me with the revelation that I owed him Rs.10,000. Totally clueless, I asked him to elaborate and he said the other day he had a few drinks in a 5-star hotel and then realised he risked being caught with possibility of DL and jail term. He decided to hire a room and spend a sum which he thought we cost him.'

Over 5,000 people have been challaned  (ticketed)in Delhi this year on charges of drunk driving with 831 landing in jail. According to Delhi police stats, there has been a 250% rise in prosecution in the first three months this year compared to the same period last year-5,017 prosecutions compared to 1,927 till March end in 2010.

"There are a large number of cases of drunk drivers ramming their vehicles into the central verge, poles or trees and killing themselves. There have been cases of the combination of speed and drunk driving."

The law was made strict in September last year as it recognized that driving under the influence of alcohol poses a serious danger to others on the road as well as to co-passengers and the driver. The maximum punishment now is a 6-month jail term plus a fine of Rs 2,000 for the first offence; second offence lands you in jail for up to  two-years with a fine of Rs 3,000 ($70).

The police hope that imprisonment for drunker driving will be a big deterrent. ``We are not taking it casually and we hope people won't take it casually either,`` says Garg. ``Many of the fatal accidents are a result of drunken driving but intensive checking this year has reduced these accidents by 51%,`` according to a news headline report by the national daily, TOI yesterday.

An alcohol level in the blood of more than 0.03 gms of alcohol constitutes drunken driving in most countries, though the earlier liberal standard of 0.08 gms is still prevalent in some countries. Usually, imprisonment can be awarded to anyone found with more than 0.03gm of alcohol but is usually awarded to those registering over 0.1gms.'It`s the court's assessment but most given jail terms of 10 days or more had consumed more than 0.15 gms,' according to a traffic officer who added that people often don't realize that they are driving after drinking too much. 'Many people we have caught have claimed that they were returning from an office party or family celebration and didn't realize that one drink can land them in such trouble,' he added.

DelWine and Indian Wine Academy are avid supporters of the law. DUI (Driving Under Influence) is considered a major offence elsewhere and it is time the drunk drivers get their due punishment. Strict enforcement of the law will act as a deterrent and will keep the drunk drivers under check. Cities like Mumbai apparently already enforce the law which is a state subject. One hopes other states will follow suit. Delhi Police deserves kudos and the gratitude of citizens of Delhi and one hopes it is not a mere drive but becomes a permanent practice.

It is our understanding that up to 2 glasses of wine consumed slowly with food, keeps you under the legal limits and perfectly safe and alert for driving. If you drink more, please choose a Designated Driver, hire a cab or a driver for the evening out

Original news source http://www.indianwineacademy.com/item_5_447.aspx