Janakpuri RTO to find new home in Hari Nagar

NEW DELHI: After the regional transport office (RTO) at Sheikh Sarai, it is now the turn of Janakpuri RTO to be relocated. The Janakpuri RTO, which caters to large parts of west Delhi, will be shifted to a new campus in Hari Nagar in the next few months.
The decision to shift these two RTOs was taken about a year ago as both operated from hugely congested Delhi Development Authority markets.“Except for these two, all our other 11 RTOs function from their own campus, which makes it easier to control the access of outsiders and touts. We have already shifted the Sheikh Sarai RTO to Sarai Kale Khan and in the next few months, Janakpuri RTO too would be shifted to Hari Nagar,” a transport department official said.
The Sheikh Sarai RTO, which was set up in 1987 in a DDA commercial complex, was shifted to a new office in Sarai Kale Khan from November 1. The new RTO is situated next to Delhi’s first automated driving test track, which makes it easier to conduct driving test unlike the earlier location, where tests were conducted on a busy road near the commercial complex.
“At these two locations, we didn’t have an exclusive campus and were operating out of markets. This makes them vulnerable to touts, whose movement within the market cannot be readily banned,” he said.“We have a land parcel near the Hari Nagar bus depot, which is quite spacious. The new campus will not only have the RTO but also a driving test track,” he added.
The Janakpuri RTO caters to a large part of west Delhi, including areas such as Vikaspuri, Uttam Nagar, Nangloi, Paschim Vihar, Hari Nagar, Vishnu Garden and Janakpuri. The RTO sees a footfall of about 700 visitors a day and most of them come for getting a driving licence or renewing their licence.
“There are a lot of shops situated next to the RTO, which makes the area congested. Earlier, the RTO was completely open but we have recently put up a wall to control access to the office,” the official said. “Things will, however, improve a lot once we shift to Hari Nagar, as we have an exclusive campus there with no shops around.”
At present, driving tests at Janakpuri RTO are conducted on a busy road outside, near the metro corridor. “There is not much space available here to conduct driving tests. Also, since the test involves newly trained drivers, conducting it in busy traffic is full of risks,” he said. The upcoming RTO complex at Hari Nagar, however, would have a dedicated driving test track built inside the campus.
“The Hari Nagar complex is closed and the ambience is also good thanks to a park nearby. We expect the new RTO to become functional within the next four to five months,” he said.