'Hoarding' No More

In order to keep Dwarka a violaion free zone, Lt Gov. of Delhi Vijay Kapur has constituted a 10-member task force. The chief engineer of Dwarka, S. P. Rastogi, heads the task force which will include various officials from DDA, BSES, police and Civil administration. The task force will carry out regular inspection to ensure that there is no violation of any kind in Dwarka.
So all those running business from their residence in Sector-7 DDA flats, especially property dealers were a puzzled lot when the task force pulled down all unauthorised hoardings recently.Inder Singh, a property dealer in Sector-7 DDA flats, says, “The DDA officials came without any notice with a gas cutter and cut down all the iron angles. How can we do business without a board?�
Rohit Singh of `Jay-Kay Properties’ provides, “According to DDA norms, 25 per cent of the free hold property can be utilised for commercial purposes. Thus pulling down the hoardings was not legal on part of DDA. They have asked us to put small boards instead of big ones.� The task force has also cracked down on unauthorised boards in DDA pockets of Sector 3, 6 and 9.
Similarly the main market of Sector-6 and Sector-10 was cleared up from all encroachments for the convenience of shoppers. The shopkeepers are agitated because the DDA officials pulled down the counters and took away lot of goods from the corridor. To protest against the DDA action the shop owners closed the market the next day and went on strike.
Informs Robin Sharma, secretary of Shop-owners Association Sector-6, “The shop-owners have paid for the super area i.e. the corridor along with the covered area. Besides, the size and height of the shop allotted was less than what was in agreement with the builder, so there is scarcity of space. We have also been asked to remove all the hoardings outside the corridor. This will adversely affect our business.�
The residents of Dwarka, however, have ensured compliance with the DDA guidelines of clearing the residential area from commercialisation. Says C.M. Mathew, president of Federation of CGHS Dwarka, “We fully support the task force. Our vision of Dwarka is a clean sub-city. For the time being, the task force is successfully working on its set plans and targets.� Agrees A.K. Mandal , a resident of Sector-10 DDA flats, “Commercial activity in residential area should be totally banned. The aesthetic beauty as well as the security is at stake.�
How serious is the implementation can be gauged by one visit to the places from where the hoardings were removed. However, it is feared that once the DDA officials slacken the pace of their crackdown, the hoardings and extended counters would pop up again. Says D.C. Upadhyaya, president of Dwarka Vikas Manch, “It is all a hogwash. The hutments in front of Sector-3 DDA flats were evicted 2-3 times, but keep coming back. We have requested LG to provide special space to vendors near residentail areas, but the vendors are still moving around all over. The task force must be a permanent authority.�
S.P. Rastogi, chairman of the Task Force assures, “The task force will deal with any case of violation with a firm hand. We have destroyed 50 illegal water connections from unauthorised colonies near Dwarka especially near Sector-14. The unauthorised hoardings were removed but we do not have power to seal the flat or shop. However inspection at an interval of 15 days will be a regular feature.�