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On your own in Sadar Bazaar
Amid hundreds of shoppers thronging this market at any given time of the day one really has to strain his eyes to locate a police officer. Overcrowding isn't a problem here — security personnel are simply missing!
Amid hundreds of shoppers thronging this market at any given time of the day one really has to strain his eyes to locate a police officer. Overcrowding isn't a problem here — security personnel are simply missing!
A week before Diwali, Delhi's most famous and crowded market Sadar Bazaar is buzzing with activity but police personnel to ensure that nothing goes wrong are nowhere in sight. And so are the door frame metal detectors.
Some entry points to the market have been pointlessly barricaded as no security personnel stands there to monitor people's movement.
"This market is a sitting duck for an accident. At most you can see three policemen roaming around, which is just not enough for a market this big," said Vinod Verma, a retail store owner who comes to Sadar Bazar regularly.
According to the traders' association, the average footfall in the market is 1 lakh per day, which goes up by up to 30% during the festive season.
"We have requested the police to deploy more staff in the market. Right now there are very few policemen. Also the CCTV cameras don't work," said Rakesh Kumar Yadav, general secretary of the Federation of Sadar Bazar Traders' Association.
Taking things in their own hands, various traders' associations in the market have appointed private security guards.
"Since the police are not present in adequate numbers, we have employed guards on our own who keep an eye on the crowd," said Harjeet Singh Chhabra, president of Sadar Nishkam Welfare Association.
But the police claimed the area is well monitored.
"Personnel have been posted in the market. We have also deployed plain-clothes police officers. More security will be deployed within 2-3 days," said SS Yadav, DCP North district.
But he admitted that some CCTV cameras were not working. "Due to digging work in the past, the connections of 40% CCTV cameras were broken. We will get them repaired soon."
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