Decongesting delhi : Special Task Force formed by HC to submit report on recommendations this month A government committee formed to find ways to manage Delhis burgeoning traffic has suggested a substantial hike in the parking fees levied across the Capital and cited the polluter pays principle to push for a congestion charge on private vehicle owners. Putting restrictions on parking and increasing the usage fee can be the key to controlling the increasing number of private vehicles in the Capital,the committee headed by Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta has recommended. The committee has also strongly advocated a transport policy that discourages the use of personal vehicles and promotes public transport as a mainstay for the citys future commuting needs. It has also recommended that any future parking policy must factor in the cost of land used to create a parking facility. It must also acknowledge the need to maintain differential parking tariffs. The policy must recognise that provision or non-provision of parking can be used as a means to encourage or discourage the use of personal motor vehicles, states the draft of the final report prepared by the committee,called the Special Task Force (STF). The STF was formed nearly two years back on the High Courts directive to find ways of de-congesting Delhi. At around 68 lakh,the number of registered vehicles in Delhi is more than that in Mumbai,Kolkata and Chennai put together,and nearly a fifth of its land space is occupied by roads. The task force,which met 11 times between April 2009 and January this year,is now expected to submit its recommendations before the High Court and the Delhi government this month. Some of its suggestions regarding new-age parking systems have already been cleared by the government and implemented on the ground as pilot projects. The Cabinet has already approved some of our recommendations,including he construction of new Bus Rapid Transit corridors. The task forces final report will be exhaustive, Rakesh Mehta said. In the draft report compiled by the Transport department,the task force recommends marking every single parking site in the city on a geographic information system (GIS) map of Delhi. Once that is done,it recommends that authorities should introduce parking meters and Internet-enabled parking systems to root out mafia that control illegal parking lots,thereby reducing available parking space. This will go a long way in checking unrestricted vehicle usage at public places. the task force also recommends setting up a Mission Mode project for modernisation of parking systems in Delhi to be headed by Commissioner (Transport), the draft report states. The task force has also recommended a congestion charge on private vehicles,especially in busy markets such as Connaught Place. While creating a reliable public transport is on the top of the agenda of the government,it is high time regulatory steps were taken to rid Delhi of congestion and resort to those who congest must pay on lines of the polluter pay principle, the draft report reads. To make a congestion fee possible,the task force has asked the Transport department to update records of all vehicle sales and identify real owners. This needs to be used to make it mandatory for citizens to declare the status of their vehicles online,(and) to create a reasonably accurate database for tracking the owner and the vehicle, the report adds. Congestion charge should be levied on the nearly 11 lakh vehicles that pass through Delhi every day,the task force has recommended.
