Walled City perched on powder keg

NEW DELHI: The Kirti Nagar blaze has drawn the MCD''s attention to another tragedy waiting to happen in the shape of units dealing in hazardous chemicals operating from the Walled City. MCD has not been able to relocate the 877 chemical units operating from the Walled City, especially Lal Kuan where a huge fire took several lives in 1999.
All these units fall under category H and should have been shut down two years back, but MCD says it has not been able to relocate them because of unavailability of land.The units continue to operate from the congested lanes and bylanes of the Old City that houses large godowns for storing these hazardous chemicals.
The December 4 fire in Sadar also took place in a plastic factory that should not have been operating from the area at all. The Lal Kuan fire tragedy is probably one of the worst fires in the city, following which it was decided that such units should be relocated. MCD, however, pleads helplessness. "DDA was supposed to allocate land for relocating these units, but nothing has happened. Earlier, it had promised land in Holambi Kalan, then it said there was a paucity there. We had even suggested an alternative site at Ghazipur, but nothing has moved," said an official.
While MCD officials say they have been pursuing the issue for the past several years, it appears that the
L-G''s meet has brought the matter to the forefront. The corporation has stepped up the steam in Kirti Nagar. Local civic officials claim removal of encroachments is on full steam.
"We started demolition work on January 17, which gathered momentum on Tuesday. We had already issued notices to shopkeepers on January 1 to remove all encroachments in 10 days. We have demolished 150 semi-pucca structures being used commercially and 56 small workshops in the area. We have also identified three open spots where the Timber Market traders can store the wooden logs," said MCD deputy commissioner (west) S C Kohli.