Photos: A locality stuck between planes and trains
Updated On Feb 25, 2020 06:50 PM IST
Shahabad Mohammadpur, an urban village of about 30,000 residents near Dwarka, about 25 km from Connaught Place, has a railway station of its own, a bus terminal, is surrounded on three side by the barbed airport wall, and a Delhi Metro line runs underground—but locals say all of this, instead of easing their travel, has added to their daily travails. Instead of easing their travel, these varied modes of transport have added to the daily travails of the people of Shahbad Mohammadpur village.
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Updated on Feb 25, 2020 06:50 PM IST
Residents on a rooftop at Shahbad Mohammadpur village, near Dwarka, in New Delhi. Vipin Lamba looks pretty dismayed as he refers to his village, Shahabad Mohammadpur, in south-west Delhi, as a “unique transport hub”. “You can see and hear planes take off and land in our vicinity all the time, a Metro passes underground, and trains rattle through our village throughout the day,” he says. “But these modes of transport have only been a source of trouble.” (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)
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Aeroplanes are seen from a rooftop at Shahbad Mohammadpur village. An urban village of about 30,000 residents near Dwarka, about 25km from Connaught Place, has a railway station of its own, a bus terminal, is surrounded on three side by the barbed airport wall, and a Delhi Metro line runs underground—but locals say all of this, instead of easing their travel, has added to their daily travails. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)
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“You cannot walk anywhere in the village without sniffing the pungent odour of the fumes from the jet engines. People living in houses along the airport wall people find it hard to sleep. The trouble comes not just from the skies, but also from underground (where the Metro’s Airport Experess Line runs),” says Satyadev Solanki, a resident. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)
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Shahbad Mohammadpur is among the few villages in Delhi to have a railway station. It has been in service since 1971. About 80 trains pass through the station through the day, with about 11 passenger trains halting at the station.“On an average three trains per hour, both passenger and goods, pass through the station,” says Karan Singh, a ticket supervisor at the station. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)
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In 2012, many residents had first complained of “tremors”. About 70 houses had developed cracks, which the residents attributed to the Metro trains running underground. “Those days it was like low intensity quakes, and it was hard to sleep. But things improved with the Metro reducing the train speeds on the route. But there are portions in our house that still develop cracks over a period of time,” says Solanki. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)
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Being enclosed by the airport wall from three sides, and by a railway line on the fourth, has affected the employment opportunities in the village, with most residents depending on rental incomes. Unlike other villages close to the airport such as Mahipalpur, which has over the years become a hub of hotels, our Shahbad Mohammadpur failed to attract any economic activity, barring a few small cargo firms and taxi services started by locals. (Vipin Kumar / HT Photo)
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