Plan of a vehicle-free CP hits road bump

The plan to make central Delhi's Connaught Place a vehicle-free zone is likely to be delayed with the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi traffic police still working out modalities for its execution.
The decision to make the middle and the inner circular roads of CP vehicle-free from February was announced last month following a meeting chaired by Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu and attended by officials of the Urban Development Ministry, NDMC and Delhi Police.
As per the plan, the middle and inner circular roads of CP in the heart of the national capital were to be made vehicle-free from February for three months on a pilot basis, a move aimed at decongesting the area.

However, the plan is yet to take off with the civic body exploring ways for executing the plan.
"We were earlier considering to begin the experiment from tomorrow but the modalities are yet to be worked out. May be the drive will kick-start by end of February or early March," a senior NDMC official told PTI.
"The execution of a plan of this scale requires multiple agency coordination and we are in consultation with different stakeholders to workout a detailed plan of action," he added.

Miffed at the move, the traders in the area have contended that the civic agency will be unable to provide the required parking space and the decision will also affect business.

Total parking capacity at these three locations is 3,172 and on an average only 1,088 vehicles are being parked, they claimed, adding that the unutilised capacity could be fully used by promoting 'park and ride' concept.
Besides cycle hiring, the battery-operated vehicles would be deployed to take people to the business district.
The NDMC had last year mooted a proposal to make both Connaught Place and Khan Market vehicle-free zones. While Naidu had in November last asked for making both the markets vehicle-free, no decision has been taken yet in this regard.