NEW DELHI: The Delhi Cabinet on Monday approved a new policy envisaging developing of 175 new parking sites, 18 new multi-level parking facilities, opening up Delhi Transport Corporation depots for private parking and revision of parking charges to discourage use of private transport.

It also approved formation of 43 corridors with 575 km route length for Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System for public transport in the Capital.

These decisions were taking at a meeting of the Delhi Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. The new parking policy, to be submitted before the Supreme Court for approval, will be implemented by the Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and Delhi police. The policy is in accordance with the report of the Environment Protection and Control Authority (EPCA).

According to sources, the policy suggests identification of 175 new parking sites that would go a long way in addressing the problem. In addition, MCD has proposed developing 15 new multi-level parking facilities in joint collaboration with the private sector under Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. NDMC has also proposed three new multi-level parking sites to be developed before the Commonwealth Games 2010.

The Cabinet also approved in principle parking of private vehicles in DTC depots spread across the city, allowing people to park their vehicles there and embark on DTC buses. The idea of developing such parking spaces is to decongest the city roads and discourage use of private vehicles. The policy also proposes a revision in parking fees with people having to shell out higher rates for premium parking spaces. However, the revision will take place only after approval of the new policy.

The Cabinet also considered a study report submitted by RITES for development of an integrated multi-modal system for public transport consisting of 43 corridors with a route length of 575 km. The study was commissioned by the Delhi Government in June 2005 to identify all such corridors where public transport demand during peak hours exceeds 5,000 passengers per hour in each direction. The study was part of the action plan to increase the public transport ratio from the current 60 per cent to above 75-80 per cent.

The study has recommended an additional 132 km route length where Metro Rail needs to be constructed in Phase-III and IV. This is an addition to the 120 km Metro network that has already been constructed during Phase I and II.

For the remaining corridors, the RITES study has recommended construction of 294 km of dedicated bus lanes through the Bus Rapid Transit System commonly known as the High Capacity Bus System. In other areas where adequate road width is not available or the projected demand is more than what Bus Systems can carry, the study has recommended considering Light Rail Transit (LRT) or Monorail.

An important recommendation contained in the study relates to establishment of interchange points where the passengers can conveniently change over from one mode to the other.

Implementation of the entire project will be undertaken in three phases; the first phase will be completed before the Commonwealth Games-2010. In addition to the existing plans of HCBS corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to Delhi Gate and Phase II of Metro, a number of corridors will be completed and made operational in the first phase itself.

The Cabinet also gave in-principle approval to the recommendations contained in the RITES study and issued directions to the Transport Department to pursue the conduct of detailed feasibility studies in a time-bound manner. The execution of these projects will be done by the newly created Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) under the name "Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit Systems (DIMTS)".

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