Kiosks constructed by DDA in model sectors 6, 12 and 22 present a sorry picture of wasted public money — and, of course, policy failure on the part of DDA. It has been more than a decade and these shops, meant to serve as ice-cream parlours, fruit corners, book and magazine stalls — have now become dens of illegal activities.
While on a recce with the residents, City Spidey found the locks to be broken on most of the kiosks. Inside the shops, one could see liquor bottles strewn everywhere and even used condoms. Residents said miscreants broke the locks and are now using these safe corners for gambling, drinking and other activities.
At night, things turn quite sinister.
Priya Ranjan, a resident of Sector 6, said, “You can see even during the day, school boys or youths consuming liquor or taking drugs there. At night, we are too scared to be in the vicinity of these kiosks.”
According to sources, some 30-40 kiosks were constructed by the DDA long back in several parks, such as Plaza Park in Sector 6, the park behind Nav Sansad Vihar at Sector 22 and in the park in Sector 12 behind DDA Pocket 4 Subham Apartments. None of them have been allotted till now.
A DDA engineer, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “The construction of kiosks was certainly an innovative step. Sectors 22, 6 and 12 are model sectors and we developed the kiosks to provide facilities to the joggers and cyclists — the kiosks are there only in these three parks. But it’s really sad that there’s still no allotment.”
Officials, while accepting the failure of the project, said that they have indeed written to the concerned higher officials and departments, but nothing moved.
In 2016, 10 shops in Sectors 6 and 22 were rented out to a local businessman, but things got rolled up within a year. City Spidey spoke SS Bajaj, who had taken the shops on rent.
“In Sector 6, we took six kiosks and in Sector 22 four. When we took those shops, basic facilities of water, sewer connection and electricity were not provided. We did business for about 10 months in 2016-17, but finally due to losses had to shut shop. Unfortunately, in Sector 22, we didn’t even start the shops, but continued paying the rent. It happened because the DDA didn’t bother to provide even the basic utilities.”
He has been writing to the DDA for a refund of his money for shops that were not opened at all. “I have been writing regularly to the DDA for a refund for shops in Sector 22.”
President of Dwarka Forum and a resident of Nav Sansad Vihar, Sector 22, Rejimon CK, said, “These shops were a big failure on the part of DDA — sheer wastage of public money. And they are still not in a position to say anything clearly on the subject!”
Here’s what a DDA official had to say. “Actually DDA included the cost of the land with the kiosks. So the prices were higher and not feasible for most businessmen. Now it has been more than 10 years. And nobody knows what to do with them.”
