Metro Watch: Too many vehicles, too little space
14 July 2012 12:58 AM GMT
While the Metro stations in general have ample parking space, which are often misused by non-commuters, at Tilak Nagar Metro station, the story is different. With only about 291.36 square feet area allotted for parking, it is easily the smallest Metro parking lot in Delhi.
Commuters, who are often urged by the Metro to ‘park and travel’ and thus prevent wastage of resources, face a lot of difficulty in Tilak Nagar when it comes to parking. The available space limits it to mere 25 cars and 100 two-wheelers at a time.
However, over 10,000 commuters use Metro at Tilak Nagar. Given that the space is available on ‘first come first serve’ basis, people who use the metro later face invariably the ‘parking full’ board.
Commuters though are persistent. They solved the problem by parked haphazard outside the parking lot. This in turn has lead to utter chaos near the Metro station. ‘I am often forced to park my car near the parking boundary, knowing pretty well that I am likely to find scratches all over my car. I can’t even complain to the parking guard about it as I obviously park my car at my own risk. If the authorities concerned could make the parking slot bigger, then it would help the commuters,’ said Mohan Singh, a commuter.
Nearby, a small MCD parking is also available, but it is meant for the people who own shops at Tilak Nagar’s market. Even this parking seems to be jam-packed round the clock. ‘If we get space in the MCD parking, we use to park our vehicle there. But most of the time it is also parked to the brim,’ said Ankit Jain, regular commuter of the Metro.
Apparently, commuters who live near Tilak Nagar Metro station use the nearest Metro stations, either Janak Puri East or Subhash Nagar, as they don’t find parking space at Tilak Nagar. Both the stations are about 1.5 km away from Tilak Nagar. Parking at Janakpuri East covers about 308 square feet area while Subhash Nagar parking offers 733 square feet area. ‘Due to shortage of parking area at Tilak Nagar, I use to park my car at the slot of Janakpuri East station,’ said Neema Gupta, an employee of a MNC that is located at Dwarka.
When Millennium Post reached the parking slot of Tilak Nagar in the morning hours, supposedly the peak Metro usage time, we found that even though space was available in the Metro parking lot, the parking attendant was not allowing the vehicles to enter alleging that the parking is packed. When questioned, the attendant admitted that some ‘spots’ are reserved by the commuters, who pay the attendant for this privilege.
‘We are aware about the shortage of parking space at Tilak Nagar station. Soon we will come up with a solution to make the parking area bigger so that enough vehicles could be parked,’ said a spokesperson of Delhi Metro.
Commuters, who are often urged by the Metro to ‘park and travel’ and thus prevent wastage of resources, face a lot of difficulty in Tilak Nagar when it comes to parking. The available space limits it to mere 25 cars and 100 two-wheelers at a time.
However, over 10,000 commuters use Metro at Tilak Nagar. Given that the space is available on ‘first come first serve’ basis, people who use the metro later face invariably the ‘parking full’ board.
Commuters though are persistent. They solved the problem by parked haphazard outside the parking lot. This in turn has lead to utter chaos near the Metro station. ‘I am often forced to park my car near the parking boundary, knowing pretty well that I am likely to find scratches all over my car. I can’t even complain to the parking guard about it as I obviously park my car at my own risk. If the authorities concerned could make the parking slot bigger, then it would help the commuters,’ said Mohan Singh, a commuter.
Nearby, a small MCD parking is also available, but it is meant for the people who own shops at Tilak Nagar’s market. Even this parking seems to be jam-packed round the clock. ‘If we get space in the MCD parking, we use to park our vehicle there. But most of the time it is also parked to the brim,’ said Ankit Jain, regular commuter of the Metro.
Apparently, commuters who live near Tilak Nagar Metro station use the nearest Metro stations, either Janak Puri East or Subhash Nagar, as they don’t find parking space at Tilak Nagar. Both the stations are about 1.5 km away from Tilak Nagar. Parking at Janakpuri East covers about 308 square feet area while Subhash Nagar parking offers 733 square feet area. ‘Due to shortage of parking area at Tilak Nagar, I use to park my car at the slot of Janakpuri East station,’ said Neema Gupta, an employee of a MNC that is located at Dwarka.
When Millennium Post reached the parking slot of Tilak Nagar in the morning hours, supposedly the peak Metro usage time, we found that even though space was available in the Metro parking lot, the parking attendant was not allowing the vehicles to enter alleging that the parking is packed. When questioned, the attendant admitted that some ‘spots’ are reserved by the commuters, who pay the attendant for this privilege.
‘We are aware about the shortage of parking space at Tilak Nagar station. Soon we will come up with a solution to make the parking area bigger so that enough vehicles could be parked,’ said a spokesperson of Delhi Metro.
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