In their report, "Move free: Unlocking the traffic gridlock in our neighbourhods" , researchers have highlighted an unprecedented scale of congestion in these areas. They have cited the example of Alaknanda Road—originally meant to carry 1,000 vehicles per hour, the stretch is currently being used by non-destined vehicles. Now, the same road carries more than 2,500 vehicles per hour.

The study reveals that increasing parking pressure has led to a decline or loss of public spaces in these areas. Massive spillover of cars on roads, for instance, has shrunk the carriageways in CR Park; on-street parking on Alaknanda Road is nearly 3.15 times its notified legal parking area. Several cars remain covered and parked on colony roads for months and years. Residents from adjoining areas like Tughlaqabad also park near Tara Apartment T-junction in Alaknanda, which compounds the problem.

According to an estimate, if the entire CR Park area is built up to the maximum permissible floor area ratio under the Delhi Master Plan of 2021, then the demand for parking will be 75% of the colony's total area. Most of the plotted houses here have no provision for parking within the premises and there is no vacant plot available for shared parking as well.

In Alaknanda, there is a thriving parking business where residents pay Rs 1,000 per month for night parking and Rs 1,500 for 24-hour parking. Similar practices are seen in Kolkata and Tokyo too.

CSE suggests the practice of charging for parking at market rates can be made official and the amount generated can be used for local development. The short stretch of Alaknanda can itself generate about Rs 13 lakh a month at the current parking rates and car numbers in the area. The area is also poorly connected to public transport facilities. With both Nehru Place and Govindpuri Metro stations in the vicinity, a good feeder service could have improved the service, CSE says.

" When we look at traffic congestion, we usually look at arterial roads—the Outer or the inner Ring Road but not at the local roots of the problem, the hierarchy, density and carrying capacity of streets. We also don't consider participatory planning for these areas. What CSE found was the street network in many areas gets enormous through traffic. Because of unrestricted parking, colonies have not only become generators of huge traffic, but also victims of congestion and air pollution themselves," says Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director and head of clean air programme at CSE.

She adds that colonies such as CR Park are surrendering precious public space to parking. " We also found that bus service is curtailed in some areas while feeder service from Metro is very weak making residents captive users of cars. This top down approach of considering arterial roads for planning and improvement will not work. It has to be both ways," she says.

As far as walking is concerned, footpaths are available in 70% of the total length of the Alaknanda stretch surveyed. The width of the footpath near the market is 1.5 metres against a standard of minimum 2 metres. " The kerb height is unacceptable along the roads (standard is 150 mm). Only the road near St George's School meets the standard," CSE says.