Delhi | We are being punished for the fault of civic agencies: shop owners

Delhi: Shopkeepers at Delhi’s Mukherjee Nagar and Old Rajinder Nagar are worried after the Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Vinai Kumar Saxena directed the educational hubs of the national capital to shift to Narela and Rohini in order to provide a good environment to students for their studies, apart from providing affordable and well-built residential accommodations.

Patriot visited these hubs and spoke to the shopkeepers about their concerns.

Mukherjee Nagar

On the main road of the Mukherjee Nagar which is home to almost all the renowned coaching centres including Drishti IAS, Sanskriti IAS, Vision IAS, and NEXT IAS, the shop keepers were unhappy and even furious over the decision to shift the coaching centres out of the area.

Dhanendra Bhati (36), a book shop owner, said, “The decision of the government to shift the coaching centres from this locality will leave the area dry. But shifting will not change anything in the new place as the officials of the authorities are corrupt.

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students sustained injuries last year. Every time a tragic incident happens, the authorities seal shops and establishments to hide their own shortcomings, but reality is that no one cares about the lives of the people of the national capital,” Shyam added.

Another shopkeeper, who owns a photostat machine, said on the condition of anonymity, “Mukherjee Nagar is one of the biggest educational hubs in the national capital, but it is a matter of shame that the situation of the locality is worse than one can imagine.

“The roads turn into rivers during the monsoon season as no desilting of the drains is done by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) on time to avoid mishaps. Everyone is aware that students from across the country reside in the area to study for the competitive exams, but no preparations in this respect is done by the authorities,” he said.

“Not only this, the MLA and the MP do not care about the people as after they are elected, they just fill their pockets. The representative of this area has not visited the locality even once after coming to power. They only visit the area once every five years to seek votes. The decision to shift the coaching hub from the area will also not bear any fruit for the authorities as well as the government as the situation there will remain the same. It is not about the place, it’s about the corrupt officials,” he added.

Shopkeepers in Old Rajinder Nagar

The environment of the tragedy hit-Old Rajinder Nagar was also similar to Mukherjee Nagar as the shopkeepers were furious over the government’s decision.

Ankush Khurana (name changed), a bookseller, expressed his anger saying, “The authorities are destroying our business to hide their own mistakes.

“Every time some tragedy of this intensity takes place in the city, the authorities take such illogical steps to hide their own mistakes. However, a shopkeeper is the one who is majorly hit by these kinds of incidents as the police starts trou bling us, forcing us to close our shops early,” he said.

“Furthermore, the civic agencies visit the area and start demolishing without any purpose just to hide their own shortcomings and to let people know that they took some action after the tragedy. The reality is that only the business will be hit and the whole Old Rajinder Nagar will suffer a major blow due to this decision,” Khurana said.
A printout shop owner, Shubham Sharma, said, “We have been sitting in this market for the past two decades. We have seen several ups and downs. But the thing which remains the same is the pathetic condition of roads and civic amenities here.

Despite raising this issue in front of the political representatives of the area, no action had been taken by any of the authorities.

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“The authorities woke up and started caring about the area only after three students lost their lives. Waterlogging has been a major problem in the area for the last 10 years, but no one cared till three lives were lost,” he said.

“What is our fault? Why should a shopkeeper suffer due to the mis takes of the civic agencies?” asks Sharma.

“Our business will be hit badly by the decision of shifting the coaching hub, as nearly 90% of the Old Rajinder Nagar is dependent on the students. If the educational hub itself will not be here, where will we go. The government should make stricter norms and ensure that they are followed. Shifting will only make the businessman suffer, instead of solving the real problem,” Sharma added.

The incident

The death of three civil services aspirants at Rau’s Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar on July 27 due to flooding shocked the national capital bringing the police, MCD, Delhi government, Delhi LG on their toes. The students staged demonstrations at several locations in the city demanding justice for the ones who lost their lives due to the poor civic amenities and infrastructure and demanded accountability.