DDA demolition drive finally does the trick for Nehru Place

It has been almost three months since the initiative to clean the IT hub of India, Nehru Place, by the DDA began. It also witnessed certain actions, which infuriated the channels community and if this was not enough only a few weeks back certain buildings in the commercial hub were declared as lacking in fire safety measures and were ordered sealed. This last action woke up the channel community from its slumber, as they ran here and there to get a stay order for the action.

There are certain sections in the market, which feel that it is not the work of the government to take all these preventive actions, rather the resellers too need to become more proactive.

The initiative taken by the DDA has generated accolades from some sections of the community. There are some who feel that it has not done enough and there are still those who more or less carry a do not care attitude. Then there are some, which

have become proactive and have started to take initiatives to improve the conditions of their premises.

S Nautiyal, Director, Spark Technology And Testing, said, "What the DDA is doing till now I am happy with it, but don't know for how long it will continue. In our country it is difficult to maintain anything. The DDA gives the builders certain instructions and norms that they have to comply with. For years our building had not been painted and it took a personal visit to the builder to get it done."

Added Naveen Vohra, Director, Citi Solutions, "Well it does seem that the DDA is doing something as far as the cleanliness of the place is concerned." Siddhartha building, where Citi operates from, a few days back, had been declared as one of the unsafe buildings, lacking in fire safety norms by the fire department. According to Vohra, though certain work has started to get the fire safety measures, he denied any sort of association had been formed to carry on the work.

Builders have come out with their versions that when they had constructed the building there were no such thing as fire safety norms. Now they have got a stay order of 45 days to implement it and the work is going on.

According to another source, "Last week there was a long meeting between all the building members, in the beginning we couldn't reach any decision as it was concluded that it was impossible to complete fire security measures within 45 days. But now according to some the work has been started and is expected to be finished most of it within the time period and then by showing the progress they will take some more stay time."

But according to market sources there is also a buzz going around that some might consider another stay order for a longer period, so that they can make their buildings safe and secure as per the fire measures.

Said Saurabh Nagpal, Director, Multilink, "As far as the DDA initiative is concerned, no doubt they have done a very commendable job. The place is now cleaner. Now it feels good to have a clean environment, which definitely would encourage people to visit this place."

But these people are not depending only on the DDA to take the initiative. Nagpal, whose office is in Deepak building, has already formed a committee to look into different matters relating to the maintenance of the building and are awaiting the registration of it. "Only 30 days are remaining to comply with the norms of the fire department that would be before 14 April.

And we are sure to finish everything before the deadline. We have also received the full cooperation of all the people who have also given contribution for the betterment of the building."

It's not that everyone is happy with the work done by the DDA. Pointed out one reseller, "The initiative taken by the DDA was sort of an eyewash. It was carried on till the PM visited the Kalkaji mandir and the moment he had left the area, all norms were thrown to the air and the illegal vendors again occupied the place. Even the 20 to 25 percent of the people who had been complying the orders would soon come out and again encroach the area."

Another reseller said, "The parking problem that DDA says would be solved after the construction of the parking space is a farce. With the construction of the multiplex, it would make things worse and the situation instead of improving would on the contrary become worse."

Added a third reseller, "We have been paying maintenance fee to the building incharge, but still not getting any sort of service."

These are some of the voices, which feel that work done so far was eyewash and Nehru Place would soon be the dirty old self.

There are people who were almost indifferent to the work going around or when it came to taking any action. For them, the world is centered only on their business. There were some who were not really concerned with what the DDA did or is doing or the need to take the first step. One reseller commented blandly, "I can hardly comment on anything."

"The non-cooperation on the part of the people is also one of the major hurdles when someone enterprisingly wants to do something," said one reseller.

Sometimes this non-cooperation is based out of selfish business motives. Encroachments means money for all, at least the ones who survive out of these unassuming setups. Now the big question is how long this cleanliness will sustain itself in the gruesome IT hub of India, where making money is the prerogative for everyone--no matter what the civic conditions are.

Karma Negi & Shweta Khanna