'What's MCD done for parking?'

NEW DELHI: Pay a parking charge for what? People suffering this perennial problem for years can''t help asking this question when confronted with the Delhi Municipal Corporation''s (MCD) plan to levy a one-time parking charge on all new cars and two-wheelers. The MCD says since most vehicles would be parked outside houses on public land, people should pay for it.
People who have their own driveways, garages or live in housing societies, do not see any reason to be charged for a facility they have arranged for themselves."One pays for getting a service," said Alokananda Dasgupta, a school teacher who stays in Bharat Apartments in Rohini. "We pay the residents'' welfare association (RWA) about Rs 400 a month for maintenance, which includes parking. We have our own parking space which is maintained by our society. What should we pay the MCD for?" said Dasgupta.
In fact, the RWA and residents of a colony in New Rajinder Nagar pooled in resources to get an entire bylane converted to a parking space. "This lane used to be filled with garbage which the MCD didn''t bother to clean in months," said Suresh Singh, a resident of the double-storeyed block. "The RWA got the entire stretch cleaned and then got it laid with concrete, to serve as parking space," he said.
Bijon Majumdar, a resident of Chittaranjan Park, can''t see any reason for paying the MCD either, especially when the RWAs had put in place a workable system. "Every colony here is hemmed by gates. Only people residing within that stretch are allowed to park and we pay for this to the RWA," he said.
Most shocked was Model Town resident Joginder Kaur. "We run a business and need mobility. We have three cars and need to buy new ones regularly, since the cars are used extensively and wear out fast," Kaur said. "For this, we specially included a driveway when we constructed our house recently. It makes no sense to pay the MCD every time we register a new car," Kaur said.
Anita Singh, a resident of Jangpura Extension, argued that by charging a one-time tax, the MCD was encouraging parking on public place. "In our area, parking is painful. There''s a stretch near the Defence Colony flyover which we need to use to enter our colony. This stretch is unlit. With autorickshaws and taxis being parked there with impunity, it has become a place for soliciting. By asking people to pay for parking on roads, MCD is only legalising this nuisance," she said.