Soon national Capital-dwellers could just drive in to a parking lot and get their dirty linens washed. In a unique initiative, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is planning to install mobile laundry machines in its parking spaces.
A first-of-its kind facility in the city, the “mobile laundry machines” will be installed and operated on the lines of laundromat. Built and operated by a private concessionaire, the facility can be availed by people using a coin or a card. The civic agency is planning to kick off the project by installing them in parking areas of different markets. “Introducing laundromats is a unique way to utilise unused spaces in parking lots. To start with, we will be letting out the parking spaces of various markets in our area. The idea is that people can just drop their clothes at the booths and spend time shopping. By the time, they would be done with recreation or other work, the clothes would be ready — dried and ironed,” said Jalaj Shrivastava, NDMC chairperson. The agency is planning to introduce them first in the parking lots of Connaught Place, Khan Market, Sarojini Nagar and a few others.
laundromats are quite popular in countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore. The facility, once opened, can make the mundane task of washing clothes convenient and totally hassle-free for people, especially hostellers and all the others living alone. For this, the NDMC recently floated an expression of interest (EOI) which emphasises that the laundry machines “ought to be eco-friendly to the greatest extent possible.” “The professional laundry machines must be lPG/PNG heated, since it is a green laundry,” the EOI stated.
One facility will have a minimum of 100 reference machines installed in the same format as laundromat. Rates for using the facility have not been finalised yet, but it shall vary with the weight of the total number of clothes being given for washing, informed an official. “Our intention is to keep it cheap and yet not compromise on quality. Prices of the service are yet to be decided. We will rent some space in our parking lot to the contractor who will build and operate the facility and earn revenue from it. We will also provide them with electricity for the same,” he added.
“We have floated the EOI and are awaiting different proposals from interested bidders. The most eco-friendly machine type which would also consume less water and electricity will be selected. Another important factor is that the machines should have no permanent fixtures,” said a senior NDMC official. The bidder should have a minimum experience of three years of running a card or coin operated laundromat, added the official.