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August 8, 2012

Surface parking lots in the NCR — run by both Delhi Metro and civic agencies — are hotspots of vehicle thefts

NEW DELHI/GURGAON/NOIDA: A board that says ‘authorised parking’, attendants in uniforms and a parking slip for your car — for most of us, it is an assuring sight, making us park our vehicles as we think they will be ‘safe’ there.


The truth is, however, is that your vehicle is not safe anywhere in the Delhi-NCR.
Aditya Jain, a 22-year-old management student from Jaipur, learnt this the hard way. A few months ago, his brand new Maruti Swift Dzire was stolen from an ‘authorised parking lot’ at a Metro station in the Capital.


“I had to apply for my visa and had gone to Nehru Place for that. I was told that the safest place to park my car would be the Nehru Place Metro station parking lot. I parked my car there and went to the visa office,” he said. “When I came back, the attendant told me that someone else had driven my car away,” he said.
It’s been three months and there’s no trace of Jain’s car.


Parking lots at Delhi Metro stations, it seems, have emerged as the latest hotspots for car thefts. This year, seven cases of vehicle thefts have been reported from the Rithala Metro police station alone that covers four Metro parking lots.

Another Metro police station, west Delhi’s Rajouri Garden — which covers the same number of parking lots — has been reporting at least one case of vehicle theft every month.


The same holds true for normal surface parkings too which are as unsafe as those of the Metro stations. Thefts of car parts and accessories such as tyres and music systems and costly items such as laptops from parked cars are also rising.


The fact that such incidents are taking place in authorised parking spaces points to the possibility of a nexus between police, corrupt officials of the land-owning agencies and the enterprising contractors.


On an average, nearly 1,000 vehicles are added to Delhi roads every day, leading to a severe shortage of parking space, which in turn helps parking mafias flourish in the city. The presence of such greedy parking mafias is also making parking lots unsafe.


In Noida, car thieves work in nexus with parking lot attendants, claim police sources. Car thefts are quite common at parking lots in Sector 18, 29, 36, 30 32,15,29 and 62.

Gurgaon residents are also completely at the mercy of the parking mafia. In fact, some contractors clearly mention on the parking slip that they will not be held responsible for the safety of the car.



Source: Hindustan Times, Delhi Edition (08.08.2012)




1 comment:

  1. if they clearly mention that they are not responsible then why are they charging people. and why does the land development agency overlooks...

    ReplyDelete