Connaught Place: Traders, NDMC spar over upkeep of market

New Delhi: The traders at Connaught Place and the New Delhi Municipal Council are at loggerheads over the maintenance of the shopping arcade. While the civic officials have maintained that NDMC cannot held liable to maintain private properties, traders said that the process to seek permissions to carry out repairs in the market is tedious.

The market that last underwent a major facelift ahead of the Commonwealth Games, 2010, is now marked by worn-out walls, spittle trails and pan and guthka stains. Ahead of the Games, NDMC carried out whitewash in the market, repaired the facade and the structure.

NDMC officials said that a large number of delegates are expected to visit the market when Delhi will host G20 summit-related events in March 2023. Delhi will host at least eight major events during India’s G-20 presidency period, including the G-20 foreign ministers’ meet in March next year and the gathering of the G-20 heads of state in September.

Atul Bhargava, president, New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA), said that the problem lies with the council. “They don’t allow us to paint the shops. There is a very long permission process, and they also don’t want to do it saying these are private properties. Who is stopping them from undertake the repair work? Suppose a paint job costs me Rs50,000, it will take around 5-6 months as well as several times this amount to take the permission. Moreover, if everyone stats painting their sections, Connaught Place will have different shades of white. There has to be some uniformity,” said Bhargava.

He said that the painting work will need Rs2 to Rs2.2 crore. “It is not a small amount. How can we afford it? A few years ago, a section of CP pillars were painted in which the paint was provided by the traders and labourers were given by the council,” he added.

NDTA secretary Vikram Badhwar said that council was creating confusion over maintenance. “We pay some of the highest property tax in the country and yet the civic body is not willing to carry out the maintenance work. Based on our earlier discussions with NDMC, we had also held talks with several paint companies to sponsor the project the but the council needs to allow us to carry out such an arrangement,” he added.

NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay said that several issues are involved in the maintenance of Connaught Place, and reiterated that these are private properties. “During the Commonwealth Games, 2010, NDMC had taken budget from the government to carry out the whitewashing work. The traders expect us to do the same again. But the issue is complicated. In many cases, the property is leased and the owner and tenant are not on the same page over maintenance. There are disputes and legal cases also,”

He added that NDMC will start mechanical sweeping in the area in the next 10-15 days. “Five types of machines will be used to clean the area and the process will start after 15 days. The work will partially start near the Hanuman Mandir stretch,” he said.

Badhwar said that merely white wash will not work as many buildings also need repair. “CP is deteriorating and we want to renovate but the permission seeking process is tedious and extraordinarily long. A private operator who wanted to repair their property had to wait for nine months just to seek permission from NDMC and heritage conservation committee. We face hurdles to remove the peepal trees growing in the structure even at our own expense,” he added.

Upadhyay said the market is also a stakeholder in the preparations for the G-20 summit . “The owner of the private property has to whitewash the property. For G20 summit, NDMC will take initiative and cooperate with market association. We will take any positive step that can be taken to beautify the market and resolve the hurdles being faced by the traders,” he said, and added that the specific details of the plan are being worked out.

As the buildings in Connaught Place market, which was constructed in 1933, are notified as Grade II heritage structures, NDMC officials said HCC’s permission is mandatory even for basic maintenance and internal repairs, including painting the premises and relaying floor or wall tiles.