Indian Express 29.11.2010
Delhi’s favourite furniture market razed to a pile of rubble
Express News Service Tags : corporation, panchkuian road was demolished Posted: Mon Nov 29 2010, 05:00 hrs
New Delhi: Delhi lost a 61-year-old landmark on Sunday when the furniture market on Panchkuian Road was demolished by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi. The market began as a rehabilitation project for refugees from Pakistan who were allowed to build on MCD land. The traders began to specialise in furniture in the 1960s.Owners of the 192 shops that comprised the 1.5 km-long market along Panchkuian Road have been asked to move to a three-storey building constructed on Bhai Veer Singh Marg. The demolition brought to a close the six-year-long litigation battle between the Traders’ Association and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, which wanted the land for its Blue Line.
“We had received notices asking us to vacate by last Friday. Most of us had moved out already. The demolition was done by the MCD to earn brownie points for itself,” said Vijay Vij, chairman of the Panchkuian Road Furniture Market Association. He claimed the traders were planning to demolish the market with their own resources.
The traders had won the first round of various court battles, and the DMRC had to do without disturbing the market. The Blue Line has since been built, leaving only about two-thirds of Panchkuian Road free for traffic. An MCD press note on Sunday gave the construction of a two-way road connecting Connaught Place and Jhandewalan as the reason for the demolition. This was because the stretch in front of the market was too narrow for traffic, and hence has remained closed since the Metro line came to the area.
The new building has been constructed by the DMRC, and rooms will be given to the traders on a 30-year lease. “I have not yet moved to the new building. They are offering me a 8x18 feet room as showroom, that too, on the second floor. I have to pay Rs 9 lakh as fee. On the other hand, I had three rooms of 8x40 feet each here, and at a minimal fee,” said Jatin Munjal, a third-generation trader. Most shops have passed on to the grandchildren of the original owners, who were from the undivided Punjab.
Traders have found the new building insufficient in many ways. “They have installed just two elevators in the new building, and even those are not equipped to carry heavy loads,” said Pankaj Revri, a trader. As per the agreement between the traders and the DMRC, all the traders will be provided with shops on the ground floor within 18 months.
