At east Delhi’s Gandhi Nagar market, traders await plans for proposed revamp

Some traders say the proposed facelift may not work out given the number of problems in the area; others believe the process will be slow but steady

Close to six months have passed since the Delhi government announced the redevelopment of Gandhi Nagar market, the biggest textile hub in Delhi, but the area is yet to see any concrete change.

Shop owners at the market remain a divided bunch — while some complain that the announcement is yet to reflect any change on the ground, others remain optimistic that the change will be a “slow but steady process”.

According to Balkishan, a shop owner based in the market for close to a decade, the recent spell of rain has resulted in the worsening of existing issues — frequent congestion, improper collection of waste, clogged drains, among others — that the 15,000 traders at the market continue to face on a daily basis.

Last week, a fire broke out at a shop in a four-storey building at the market, leaving one person dead. During a visit to the damaged building, the shopkeepers told The Hindu that fire tenders could not enter the congested bylanes in the market, which resulted in a delay in controlling the situation.

“I do not feel it is possible to revamp this market. There are too many issues that have grown worse over the years. We do not know what the revamp will entail; the exact plans and procedures are yet to be announced,” said Mr. Balkishan.

In the Delhi government’s recent budget speech, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had announced that they plan to redevelop Gandhi Nagar which is called “Asia’s largest readymade garments market”. Stating that the east Delhi-based market will be redeveloped into a “grand garment hub”, Mr. Sisodia had said that the redevelopment will lead to “40,000 new employment opportunities in the next five years”. The market’s current daily turnover stands at over ₹100 crore and it provides 1 lakh direct employment opportunities, and close to 3 lakh indirect jobs.

The government’s plans were welcomed by the likes of K.K. Balli, president, Association of Wholesale Readymade Garment Dealers (Gandhi Nagar). Mr. Balli said frequent meetings were held between the market associations and government representatives — including Mr. Sisodia and Jasmine Shah, vice-chairperson, Dialogue and Development Commission of Delhi. Based on the feedback collected from the shop owners at the market through multiple field interactions, Mr. Balli said congestion, lack of proper roads and civic amenities and haphazard flow of vehicles to load and unload stock were the major issues that he had conveyed during the meetings with the government representatives.