Noida Authority’s Sector 18 Multilevel Car Parking – Smart facility smartly managed : DLF

A lot has been said and written about Noida Sector 18 Multi-Level Parking since after its inauguration in January 2018. The issues such as parking charges, tender of operation to DLF, entry-exit, distance from sector 18 markets etc. have been some of the issues on which a lot many debates have been going on.

In past Noida Authority had also called a meeting with different stakeholders and after taking their views into consideration, it was decided that no changes will be done to parking charges. However a sector-18 market association has again written letter to Noida CCEO on the issue.

Ten News spoke to DLF Executive Director Rajeev Singh to take his views on various issues concerning MLCP.

On being asked about the capacity of MLCP he said, “2800 cars and about 180 two wheelers can be parked as of now. All the floors are operational. The timings are from morning 9 to 11 in night. If we talk about the surface parking the capacity is about 1200. However for the long time parking it can be costly. Surface parking is mostly for the market owners and for those who are coming for short visits. For long term MLCP is more convenient, centrally located and safe”.

He further talked about the public response and said, “In initial days there were some problems but public response has improved a lot with time. Public understand the benefits of a covered infrastructure such as MLCP”.

We also asked him about DLF’s strategy to deal with the problem of unruly parking attendants and he said, “In terms of parking attendants we have hired them from a specialized agency which has been with DLF for very long. They have long term experience in the domain and hence they hire every professional with the requisite license and after thorough check. Consumer feedback is also taken from time to time”.

The debate on sector 18 MLCP was mostly around parking charges. We asked DLF Executive Director Rajeev Singh about the same and he said, “DLF has no say in the price decided either for Surface Parking or the Multi-Level Parking. It was decided by Noida Authority as per tender conditions after due-deliberations and is very competitive as compared to other similar infrastructures in NCR region. He also said that DLF isn’t considering MLCP as a profit making venture but is operating it as a public infrastructure to maintain order in the region. If we compare it with the construction cost or the monthly maintenance cost, it is still very subsidized. Here at MLCP the minimum parking is 30 Rs. It is good for those people who have to stay for long term. If everyone will park their vehicle on roads, the congestion will create a lot of problems. Hence MLCP is good for long term parking”.

On being asked about conflict of interest between DLF mall and DLF operated MLCP, he said the banners proclaiming 6000 parking space are to inform general public about sector 18 parking the significant facility available at their disposal. It in no way related to DLF mall, we have separate parking space of about 2500 vehicles. It must be introduced that this parking also needs to be promoted so that people know that there is such a facility existing at sector 18.

He also informed that DLF operates similar infrastructure on other places as well. He said, “DLF also operated similar infrastructure in CP near Hanuman Mandir. We have that facility to operate for about 35 years. We also have such things in cyber city”.

Sector 18 traffic much regulated than ever, pick drop facility available claims Noida Authority

Ten News also spoke to Noida Authority Project Engineer Subhash Mishra on various issues concerning Sector 18 Multi-Level Car Parking.

On rates and capacity he said, “It is a smart parking with a capacity of about 3000 vehicles. The rates were decided after NCR survey. There is an existing smart parking at CP Delhi and similar model has been adopted. This is a smart parking in which users are given a lot of facilities. We have E-rickshaw’s which are completely free. The frequency is of just 2 minutes and they even drop a single person to their destination in sector 18 market”.

On the entry-exit point issue, he clarified, “Entry exit has been designed considering engineering point of view. Entry exit are in different direction so that it doesn’t lead to congestion. The congestion on the road has definitely decreased but more awareness is required. We have deployed about 20 traffic marshals and 2 traffic inspectors along with 9 cranes. The situation of Jam has eased out after the opening of sector 18 MLCP”.

Commute from Parking Convenient, Return Facility Irregular claim users:
 

Ten News further spoke to some users of MLCP who had varied reactions. While everyone appreciated the E-Rickshaw facility from the parking to the market many said that return commute was not that easily available and they have to often walk back to parking.