All
Nehru
Place associations staged a 2 hours long peaceful protest,
'Nehru Place Bachao,' on February 1, 2012 at Nehru Place. The
protest was ended with the demand of extending 30-days ultimatum to
the civic administration of Nehru Place to take a permanent action
against unregulated hawking, cleanliness, parking and security.
However, the associations have also decided to coninue its campaign
and launch the second round of peaceful protest in a massive scale on
March 2, 2012.
The
protest was conducted by Nehru Place Improvement and Welfare
Association's (NIWA) president Anil K Sehgal, while the presidents of
other four associations dealing with export fabrics, computer
hardware, peripherals and media distribution also supported the
protest and made fervent pleas to the civic and administrative
authorities to rise and help restore a safer, cleaner and regulated
work environment.
Even
as
several supporters turned up at the sprawling Nehru Place
commercial plaza near Bajaj House to express their backing to the
associations, they also shouted slogans like 'Milkar
Zor
Lagana Hai, Nehru Place Bachana Hai'
in
the Gandhian's tone.
All participants showed their solidarity by wearing 'Save
Nehru Place' caps.
This
first-of-its-kind protest received an overwhelming support from all
1,283 businesses and offices of Nehru Place. Barring banks and
insurance offices, nearly 2,000 shops, retailers and offices shut
down their premises and actively participated in the protest.
Speaking
to The DQ Week, Sehgal said, “The impact of the protest was
quite apparent, as we have been noticing regular cleaning of the
commercial plaza from the last 3 days. Moreover, unauthorized hawkers
have vanished and unwanted hoardings were also removed. We wanted a
permanent support from the DDA and Police to control the menace and
make Nehru Place a
pleasurable
place of visit for occupants and visitors.”
Further
Seghal asserted, “Now, the next step is to maintain the pressure on
the authorities and seek radical reforms for the betterment of Nehru
Place. Moreover, we have decided to stage the next protest on March
2, 2012.”
According
to RK Malhotra, president, PCAIT, "This time we have not asked
all the occupants of Nehru Place to close their shops, but in our
next protest we will make it a compulsion for all.”
After
the successful completion of the protest, all associations'
presidents went to DDA office, located in Nehru Place, and informed
Jasbir Singh, assistant engineer, DDA, and AK Gupta, junior engineer,
DDA about their pending demands, and gave 30-days ultimatum to
respond to their submitted memorandum.
Responding
to the association's demand, Singh said, “We are ready to remove
the unauthorized hawkers provided we get time-to-time support from
Delhi Police.”
He
also added, "Some of the ground level shopkeepers have hired
these hawkers and block the corridors which are meant for visitors,
which should be stopped. DDA will start the encroachment drive to
remove the unauthorized hawkers and will assure to extend its support
to the associations.”