The Hindu : Front Page : Axe falls on the Capital's designer mall amid protests

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 02, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Axe falls on the Capital's designer mall amid protests

Staff Reporter

DAY OF DESPAIR: The mood at 1MG Road on Wednesday. — PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

NEW DELHI: In its first major drive against unauthorised commercial structures in the Capital's rural "Lal Dora" area, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi on Wednesday targeted the much talked about "fashion hub" on Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, demolishing half of 1 MG Road that houses the outlets of many of the country's leading designers.

A virtual Who's Who of celebrity fashion designers including Rohit Bal, Ritu Beri, Aki Narula, Raghuvendra Rathore, Tarun Tahiliani, Rohit Gandhi, Rahul Khanna, Ashish Soni, Manish Arora, Rina Dhaka, Vidhi Singhania, Mandira Wirk, Anju Modi, Shantanu, Nikhil, Manav Gangwani, Muzzafar Ali, Ashima and Leena all have their outlets in the area.

Accompanied by a large contingent of security personnel, the demolition squad landed up at the site in the morning triggering off panic among the local shop-owners and residents. For well over two hours the shop-owners tried unsuccessfully to argue with the MCD officials, asserting that the mall was built before December 2000 and hence it could not be demolished as per the Delhi High Court orders. But the officials maintained that they were only following court orders.

When the bulldozer arrived at the site, the shop-owners started removing their stuff on their own leading to chaos on the road. They were given a couple of hours to remove all their belongings after which the action began. By evening, the ground floor and some portions of the first floor stood razed.

"We will resume the drive on Thursday and target all illegal and unauthorised properties on MG Road. As per the court order, we have to first remove all commercial structures that include malls and other shops on MG Road before moving out to other areas. The action will continue here for a few more days," said a senior MCD official at the demolition site.

Accusing the MCD of wrongly targeting 1 MG Road, designers claimed that the mall had come up in 2000 while the court has asked the civic body not to demolish properties built before January 2001. They alleged that they were being targeted in order to divert the attention of the media and the public from illegal and unauthorised properties of politicians and bureaucrats. They demanded that action be taken also against the illegally built Sainik Farms where the city's elite live.

"Before building the mall, we had approached the MCD for clearance, but officials had told us that no permission was required as it was Lal Dora land. However, later it served demolition notice forcing us to move court, where the proposed action was stayed. In 2004, the MCD informed us that the file of our case has been closed. But now suddenly they are again targeting us!" rued one of the mall promoters, Manoj.

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