HAVING LOST its high-end outlets to MCD bulldozers, Delhi’s fashion fraternity is uncertain of its future. And in desperation, some designers have even turned to god, hoping for a miracle perhaps.
Even as the MCD continued with the demolition of MG 1 on Thursday, a group of designers tried to invoke the gods by conducting a havan at MG 2 — the bulldozers’ next target.
A desperate Suneet Varma, who owns outlets at MG 1 and MG 2, said: “Tomorrow morning, I’ll have no business. I don’t have a store and I’m out on the road, literally. It took me 18 years to open two retail outlets and they’ve gone just like that.”
Varma said he had spent a lot of money and the livelihood of his employees — 250 of them — was at stake.
Like others, he blamed the MCD. “The MCD is targeting us because we are soft targets. There are so many other commercial buildings on the MG road. It’s like an act of terrorism. I feel terrorised.”
The designers said the demolitions would affect their business, especially with the India Fashion Week coming soon. Rahul Khanna said the MCD’s plea that it was acting on the court orders was not convincing. “The court has asked the MCD to target the big fish but we are not the big fish.”
{{/usCountry}}The designers said the demolitions would affect their business, especially with the India Fashion Week coming soon. Rahul Khanna said the MCD’s plea that it was acting on the court orders was not convincing. “The court has asked the MCD to target the big fish but we are not the big fish.”
{{/usCountry}}Manav Gangwani said there are very few options to open shop in Delhi. And wherever there is scope, there is no way to check whether a building is authorised or not. “We don’t have much knowledge of legal technicalities,” he said.
“You don’t know which place is legal and which is not. We don’t know what to do.”