One of the kiosks set up along the road tried to cover its illegality by painting a sign that it was approved by MCD. However, this is what gave it away. Arun Banerjee, a local resident who filed an RTI on the issue, came to know that as the area was under DDA's jurisdiction, it was not possible for the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) to allot a kiosk. "Several hawkers have been trying to make their temporary kiosks permanent by making brick structures. In this case, the owner was trying to pass off the illegal kiosk as genuine allotment by painting MCD on it," Banerjee said.

Armed with an RTI reply from DDA that SDMC could not allot a kiosk in its area, Banerjee approached the corporation. He got the reply that while no fresh allotments had been made in the area in the past five years, a shop was merely 'shifted' there.

A letter accessed through an RTI states that SDMC's administrative officer allotted space in Nasirpur Sector 1 to the kiosk applicant in July without the municipality having any authority or jurisdiction in the area.

DDA has written to SDMC to explain the allotment, threatening to remove the kiosk if they don't hear from the municipality. "Why hasn't DDA acted now that SDMC hasn't responded to its official communication? It shows a lack of intent by DDA," Banerjee said.

The busy Nasirpur road carries a bulk of Dwarka's traffic. With Delhi Metro having started construction of Dashrathpuri station the road has narrowed further. "Residents have complained to various authorities, including DDA, to remove the tempos that park there illegally, converting portions of sidewalk into a stand and clogging the road. But authorities brush our concerns aside saying that such matters are referred to police which carries out drives once in a while," Banerjee added.