As agencies tussle, there’s no one to clean the streets of Chandni Chowk
The dispute, which is a rerun of the November 2023 spat between the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), pertains to the sanitation and housekeeping work of the stretch between Red Fort intersection to Fateh Puri mosque
Sunday morning in Chandni Chowk saw an unswept main bazar street, heaps of garbage near dustbins, littered drains and unclean public convenience — all the result of a dispute between civic agencies over the responsibility of sanitation work in the packed and bustling market.
The dispute, which is a rerun of the November 2023 spat between the Public Works Department (PWD) and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), pertains to the sanitation and housekeeping work of the stretch between Red Fort intersection to Fateh Puri mosque. PWD, which undertook the redevelopment work of the market, withdrew the private agency managing the housekeeping work from September 8, asking MCD to take over, leaving no one in charge of cleaning on Sunday
Sanjay Bhargava, who heads the Chandni Chowk Sarv Vyapar Mandal, said that PWD’s order may serve as the last nail in the coffin of the redevelopment project which has already deteriorating. “The entire heritage stretch is littered with waste, dustbins have bene turned over. The gates towards Red Fort were also being managed by the same agency and they have now been left open. It is a free-for-all situation with no one willing to take charge. The conditions will further worsen in coming days,” he added.
Yogesh Singhal, who is the chairman of the Bullion and Jewellers association in Chandni Chowk’s Kuncha Mahajani, said that traders pay a massive amount in parking conversion charge and house tax and the inter-agency dispute should not be allowed to sully the image of the iconic market. “We should not suffer in the fight between MCD and PWD. The garbage heaps have already started forming on corners. People coming to market will suffer and so will the trade,” he added.
According to officials, PWD has been asking MCD to take over the sanitation work for the last one year.
In a letter on September 4 to MCD, PWD states: “Sanitation being obligatory function of the MCD, as per DMC act 1957 will have to be taken over by the MCD… It was also intimated that existing contract of Chandani Chowk area shall be completed on 07.09.2024, and cannot be extended further. It is requested to deploy MCD manpowers from September 8 4 onwards for facility management services at redeveloped stretch of Chandani Chowk. In this regard, it is once again requested to take over for sanitation of road, footpath central verge etc. immediately, so that created infrastructure can be used fruitfully by the pedestrian of redevelopment of Chandni Chowk.”
On Sunday, a PWD official said that the sanitation work will now be managed by MCD. An MCD official, however, said that it will be not be taking over the sanitation work.
Dheeraj Dubey, who heads the Walled City Residential Welfare Federation — a collective of RWAs in Old Delhi — said that the people of walled city suffer as agencies engage in blame game. “If the contract was ending on September 8, should this situation between PWD and MCD not have been resolved much before the deadline,” he questioned.
A similar deadlock between the two agencies had led to a sanitation crisis on the Chandni Chowk stretch last year in November, following which traders in the area had complained to LG VK Saxena. The contract was then extended and the sanitation work continued following the LG’s visit to the area the same month.