Delhi govt doubles parking charges under GRAP 3, 4 to discourage use of private vehicles

New Delhi [India], January 21 (ANI): The Delhi government on Wednesday decided to double the existing parking charges at authorised parking sites to discourage use of private vehicles when GRAP Stage III- 'Severe' Air Quality (AQI between 401-450) and GRAP Stage IV- 'Severe +' Air Quality (AQI above 450) are invoked.
The decision comes to counter the situation of air pollution in the national capital, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) level at 324 at 7 pm.
According to the notification issued on January 8, the parking spaces owned and managed by the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) are exempted from the doubling of charges.
As per the notification, a comprehensive study on air pollution and greenhouse gases 2015, conducted by IIT Kanpur, said that vehicles contribute about 19.7 per cent of PM10 and 25.1 per cent of PM2.5 in winters and about 6.4 per cent of PM10 and 8.5 per cent of PM2.5 in summers. Vehicles contribute to about 18 per cent of CH4 emissions, 92 per cent of N2O emissions and 30 per cent of CO2 emissions in the city, based on annual emissions.
A total of about 82.4 lakhs vehicles are registered in Delhi. There are about 677 parking facilities available with approved parking capacity for about 1,06,037 number of vehicles (excluding vehicles being parked in 91 parking areas of DMRC).
According to the notification, the move also follows the National Green Tribunal order, which directed that the government shall provide destination buses and make every effort to discourage the use of private vehicles, including two-wheelers, cars and heavy vehicles.
The Department of Environment and Forest took into consideration the fact that Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has directed to "Enhance vehicle Parking fees to discourage private transport" during the invoking of GRAP Stage II - 'Very Poor', and CAQM Policy to Curb Policy to Curb Air Pollution in the National Capital Region, issued in July 2022, also provides guidelines for parking policy and various vehicle restraint measures for parking management including the introduction of Transport Demand Management measures with steep rise in parking fees.
Although the air quality has shown a marginal improvement compared to Tuesday, the overall situation in the national capital remains concerning. (ANI)