Hi-tech RTO at Mehrauli to cater to most of S Delhi

NEW DELHI: Delhi government’s transport department is planning to build a state-of-the-art and spacious regional transport office (RTO) at Mehrauli, which will cater to most parts of south Delhi.
At present, areas in south Delhi are divided between two RTOs — Vasant Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan. The RTO at Sarai Kale Khan was opened on November 1 when the three-decade-old RTO at Sheikh Sarai was shifted there due to paucity of space at the latter.Unlike Sheikh Sarai, where driving tests were conducted on a main road near the RTO, Sarai Kale Khan has Delhi’s first automated driving test track.
The Sarai Kale Khan RTO, which witnesses a footfall of around 1,200 applicants a day, caters to a vast area that stretches from Sunder Nagar to Badarpur, Greater Kailash, Saket and Mehrauli. Officials now feels that the rush at the RTO is growing and the area managed by it is becoming unwieldy, even as Vasant Vihar RTO doesn’t see that much rush.
“We have found that not only is the new RTO at Sarai Kale Khan witnessing rush, but many applicants also complained that it is quite far from south Delhi,” said a transport department official. The new RTO is around 11kms away from the erstwhile Sheikh Sarai RTO.
“We are going to shift some areas from the jurisdiction of Sarai Kale Khan to Vasant Vihar. We are also planning to shift Neb Sarai and nearby areas under Vasant Vihar’s jurisdiction,” said the official.
The rationalisation of jurisdiction, however, is a short-term measure to check rush at RTOs and also save time. In the long term, the department plans to open a new RTO at Mehrauli, which will cater to most parts of south Delhi.
“The RTO at Vasant Vihar will be eventually shifted to Mehrauli, apart from many areas that are currently under the jurisdiction of Sarai Kale Khan RTO,” he said. The department has already zeroed in on a plot where the new RTO would be built but is awaiting permission from the Archaeological Survey of India.
“We are planning a swank, state-of-the-art RTO at Mehrauli. Unlike Vasant Vihar and Sarai Kale Khan, the Mehrauli RTO will also have ample parking space. The work on the new RTO will be completed within a year,” the official added.
With the department planning to shift some areas from Sarai Kale Khan RTO to Vasant Vihar RTO, applicants might get confused about which RTO to visit. “Applicants can know their RTO by entering the pin code of their residence at parivahan.gov.in,” he said.