Delhi: Draft policy for 'dynamic parking norms' gets nod from DDA

The draft policy includes provision to factor in number and size of dwelling units instead of built-up area

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The draft policy for "dynamic parking norms" for Delhi, which includes provision to factor in number and size of dwelling units instead of built-up area, was on Tuesday approved by the DDA, officials said.

The decision was taken during the Authority meeting of the urban body, chaired by Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal.

"Considering the changed scenario of transportation, the Authority has given final approval for draft policy for dynamic parking norms in Delhi," a senior official said.

The revised norms also ensure that the parking norms in case of residential projects shall now be based on the "number and size of the Dwelling Units instead of the built-up area, ensuring the residents a balanced facility," the Delhi Development Authority said in a statement.

The parking norms have been formulated based on a study conducted by the Delhi Urban Arts Commission (DUAC) and discussions with the National Institute of Urban Affairs (NIUA), civic bodies and transportation experts, the DDA said.

It will now be forwarded to the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs for its consideration and final notification, officials said, adding a preliminary approval was given during the meeting of the DDA's Authority on March 18, and after that public notice was issued for inviting objections and suggestions, which were placed before the Board of Enquiry and Hearing.

The policy has "rationalised the parking norms" in Delhi to cater to the current and future requirements of the city, the statement said.

Once notified, these norms shall be applicable on the new as well as all the ongoing projects, and multi-level parking lots.

"Presently, parking norms in Delhi are based on the designated use premise and, it has been observed that the surplus parking from buildings, spills over, encroaching and congesting the public spaces," the DDA statement said.

In some cases, the over provisioning has led to excessive construction of basements especially in government projects. This policy will ensure better utilisation of public funds, it said.

For example, in case of government hospitals most of the people use public mode of travel or NMVs or non-motorised vehicles like cycles, rickshaws, etc. to access the facility. The basements constructed for parking remains unused and are liable to be misused. Thus, in order to provide a balance in the parking provisions, the existing norms have been revisited and revised, the officials said.

In case of government housing, the norms of GPRA (General Pool Residential Accommodation) colonies shall be adopted as approved by the central government, it said.

In case of banquet halls, parking norms have been enhanced keeping in view the orders of the National Green Tribunal.

In order to ensure that there is no anomaly while calculating the equivalent car space (ECS) norms, and to ensure that the norms are uniformly applicable across all categories in the master plan, the terms built-up, floor area wherever provided for calculating parking norm has been replaced by FAR (floor area ratio) area. This shall also align the norms as per the procedure followed for sanctioning of building plans under the ambit of UBBL (Urban Building Bye-laws) 2016, the DDA said.