Can't paper over cracks in plan at Ghazipur

New Delhi: Of the five proposed IFCs, Ghazipur is the only one that is partially functional. But, as traders say, the place has become a hub of illegal activities. The unsuccessful relocation of the city's paper market points to a deeper malaise Block C of the Integrated Freight Complex at Ghazipur was the site earmarked for Delhi's paper market's relocation -an idea mooted to decongest Chawri Bazar in the Walled City .
Anil Gupta, secretary of the Paper Merchants' Association, wanted to lead by example.He moved to Ghazipur and ran his office there for four years. But he gave up finally and returned to Daryaganj last year. “This place has become a hub for illegal activities,“ he says in frustration.“Hundreds of jhuggis have sprung up in front of our offices. People are mugged regularly. ACs were stolen from my site, but police did nothing.“ So, a decade and a half after the conception of the plan, what you have there is a ghost town of greycoloured, two-storied buildings. Most of them now in a shambles, they had been constructed by the paper traders but lie vacant. Reluctant to move in, the merchants continue to run their business from Chawri Bazaar, crowding the lanes of Shahjahanabad with their labourers and handcarts.
Of the five proposed IFCs, Ghazipur is the only one partially functional. When the fruits and vegetable market in Shahdara and the fish, poultry and egg wholesale market in Jama Masjid area moved there around a decade ago, it seemed like a decent beginning to the decongestion process.
But the paper sellers are not as enthusiastic. “The fruit and meat wholesalers were given a completely developed site with constructed structures,“ explains Gyan Prakash, president of Paper Merchants' Association (PMA). “Unlike for us, the area allocated to them has a proper boundary and restricted entry and exit points.“
The DDA spokesperson, of course, maintains that all facilities are available there. “A Block has been handed over to MCD, B Block to the Delhi government,“ he says. “Water supply to C Block recently got sanctioned by DJB.“
Since 2006, the DDA has allotted 621 plots to the paper merchants, of which just around 80 are occupied. While most traders have constructed warehouses, few operate from there. Says Rajinder Gupta, former president of PMA, who has been associated with the project since its conceptualisation: “We had expressed fears about the area being surrounded by crime hotspots and were assured that this would be taken care off. Yet even after a decade, the boundary wall has not been fully constructed.“
The traders also rue the lack of maintenance at the IFC. Basing a paper market in a place with no fire station or banking facility defies common sense, they complain.Streetlights are still being installed. Rudra Kumar, who guards one of the few operating offices, narrates, “The warehouses that function have been converted into mini-forts with raised walls and CCTV surveillance.“
According to a senior official, efforts were made by the erstwhile MCD between 2006 and 2009 to shift other markets, but the process couldn't be completed. The main reason why traders didn't want to shift was that a large percentage of the trade in the Walled City was “unaccounted“. An official said: “Traders don't want to shift and are looking for excuses.The basic infrastructure facility is there at the IFCs and, once they shift there, it can be improved. Banks will come only when commercial activity picks up.“
Curiously , the underutilised area has now turned into a site for illegal cement business. Trucks laden with cement bags dot the roads.“There is a difference of 12.5% in the cement rate between UP and Delhi. So cement is unloaded here and sold through smaller vehicles. All officials get their cut,“ an attendant discloses.
Large parts of the 187 hec tare complex have become dumping yards for the neighbouring residential colonies.“Drains are choked with garbage, and without proper drainage, roads are knee-deep in water soon after a drizzle,“ says Rohit Vats.
The IFC plan is brilliant, but it falters in implementation. As Anil Gupta concludes, “If they turn the area into a safe zone, it will just take one month to bring the paper market here.“