No buzz, no biz

Once a hotspot for shoppers and youngsters, Priya Complex looks like a pale shadow of itself.

Walking back from Nirulas, one of her favourite eating joints in the Basant Lok community centre of Vasant Vihar at 9 pm, college student Aaroshi Malik does not feel safe. “Though there is police protection outside the market, there is none inside. The market is dimly lit, which adds to my anxiety,” she says. In addition, several incidents of wallet snatching have also been reported. “Poor children from the adjoining villages come and sit near some shops. They beg for money and sometimes run away with your wallet,” Malik adds.

Popularly known as Priya market — because of the multiplex PVR Priya in the area — five years ago, the market was a hotspot for shoppers, foodies and students from schools in the vicinity. Today, one finds broken or uneven pavement, chaotic entry points for pedestrians and traffic congestion outside the market.

Business in the area has also suffered, says Nishank Khanna, manager of Nirulas. “With opening of malls on Nelson Mandela Marg, people have completely deserted the market. Even on weekends, the footfall is very low,” he laments. In the last few years, three big malls have come up in the area — DLF Promenade, DLF Emporio and Ambience mall.

Shabeer Ali, who owns a footwear stall at the entry of the market has more to say. “Why would anyone come to this market when the same companies have opened stores in air-conditioned malls?” Even for junk jewellery and clothes, people prefer markets like Sarojini Nagar and Lajpat Nagar, he adds. People like Ali have no option but to resign themselves to fate.

Places like TGIF and Hookah lounge and bar have shut shop and moved out. Manchester United Restaurant and Bar, which opened in place of TGIF last year does good business on weekends, not so much on weekdays, says the manager of the bar.

“Yes, business in the area has gone down,” confirms Vijaypreet Lamba, a member of the Market Traders Association (MTA) of Basant Lok. In 2005, the MTA had approached the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) with a proposal for redevelopment of the market, stressing the need for upgradation of the drainage systems, rainwater harvesting, allotment of parking space and repair of the piazzas. Receiving a nod of approval the same year, as long as they worked with the chief architect of the DDA, the MTA was allowed to proceed on a Build Operate Transfer (BOT) basis. “However, due to multiplicity of agencies (the DDA, the MCD and the MTA) the plan did not work well,” informs Lamba. The MTA had even agreed to bear the fee of the architect.

Though the DDA sanctioned a sum of Rs 10 crore for the project in 2008, not much has happened since. At a recent meeting between the DDA and the MTA in February this year, the DDA took a “U-turn from its initial decision,” informs Lamba, expecting the MTA to bear the cost for the upgradation in the market that were under DDA.

But Lamba is not ready to give up just yet. In a letter addressed to the Lt-Governor of the capital, the MTA has stated the dire need for improvements in the market — be it landscaping of the complex, repair of the sewage system, public utilities or organising the parking space. The MTA is hopeful that the DDA will cooperate.

In an initiative called Green PVR, the PVR group has stepped in to bring together the MTA and other Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs) for the redevelopment project in association with DDA.

“I hope the market changes for the better. I love some of the eating joints here,” says a hopeful Malik. With restaurants such as Punjabi by Nature, Turquoise Cottage and Sartoria, the market still has some loyalists that are not ready to desert it just yet.