Panchkuian traders move SC, demolition put on hold
Though the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) was supposed to start demolishing the famous furniture market at Panchkuian Road on Wednesday, it was cancelled after traders appealed against it in the Supreme Court.
Speaking to Newsline, Sanjiv Kumar, the lawyer representating the Panchkuian Road Market Association, said the date for hearing the appeal has been set for Friday. “We have not been informed where the hearing will take place,” he said.
The traders’ association is fighting the case as they are unhappy with the rehabilitation plan. The authorities had decided to demolish the market after the DMRC came up with a plan to build a Metro route (Blue Line) that runs right through the middle of Panchkuian Road. The traders were asked to shift to a new building, which would be constructed at Bhai Veer Singh Marg near St Columbus School. However, they moved the court in 2006, contending that their shops cannot function from a multi-storeyed building.
At present, traders at the market — which has 205 shops — say they have inspected the new building and found it “unsuitable”.
“The structure has been built like a government office building, with tiny cubicles. It does not look like a market at all,” said KS Bedi, president of the market association.
“The building currently has just 49 shops on the ground floor, which is not enough. When we pointed that out, they said we should move to the other floors. But we want them to build more shops on the ground floor,” Bedi said.
Stating that there was no reason to hurry, he said, “The Metro was built without us moving away, and it is now running with our shops hardly posing a problem. We are ready to shift, but we want our shops on the ground floor — which will take one-and-a-half years in the making. Once that is done, we will leave.”
