New Delhi: Nehru Place was planned as a space for work, shopping and recreational activity. For long, however, the market was purely a commercial hub for computers and accessories. Of late, with new restaurants opening, the district centre is finally assuming the contours of the originally conceived multi-functional public space. That is the good news. The bad news is that nobody among the current business owners at Nehru Place thinks the market is ready for its new avatar.

Nehru Place was developed by the Delhi Development Authority in the late 1970s, and its age is showing: broken pavements, wires dangling dangerously above the avenues, inadequate toilet facilities, poor illumination after sunset and massive encroachment by hawkers. The existing amenities simply cannot meet the needs of the three lakh people who visit the place every day. With the Janakpuri-Botanical Garden Metro line opening soon, the burden on Nehru Place could become unsurmountable.

Amid this chaos, a blame game goes on. The traders' association says that all requests for basic civic services and a check on encroachment have fallen on deaf ears. DDA officials counter, "Shop owners and building owners are responsible for the maintenance of the individual buildings."

DDA transferred the maintenance of the district centre to the South Delhi Municipal Corporation in 2014, though the civic body is responsible only for upkeep of the common areas. DDA officials say that the original allottees were supposed to form an association to undertake repairs and maintain the market, financed partly by a portion of the ground rent collected by DDA. But the association was never formed.

....Almost every available space in the piazza has been taken over by hawkers selling everything from cellphone covers to books and shoes. "The illegal vendors return within days of their removal by corporation officials," resented Rajinder Gupta, vice-president of the traders' association.

Almost every available space in the piazza has been taken over by hawkers selling everything from cellphone covers to books and shoes. "The illegal vendors return within days of their removal by corporation officials," resented Rajinder Gupta, vice-president of the traders' association.

Not surprisingly, this has affected business.