Delhi’s scrap tale

Opposite this market is the Tikri Kalan DDA industrial market area,allotted to the PVC dealers by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) after a fire broke out at the Jwalapuri plastic scarp market on June 6,1995.

The Tikri Kalan market,which has amenities like a fire station,a dispensary and a police station,is deserted too. The reason: no dealer has shifted here.

According to officials,the DDA invested Rs 40 crore for the entire construction of Tikri Kalan market. The complex,which was to house over 3,000 PVC scrap dealers,has been unable to draw dealers away from the illegal Mundka market.

Secretary of PVC Old Waste Plastic Association Ashok Tanwar says the land allotted by DDA is not enough and therefore dealers are not ready to shift.

“We need more than 500 sq m of land,while the DDA is offering us around 125 sq m. It’s too little to be of any use to us,” says Tanwar.

There are also a few like Ramcharan who are unaware that they were entitled to some land as compensation by the DDA after the Jwalapuri fire incident.

The Munkda market,meanwhile,had continued to grow as DDA land lay unused.

“There are around 25,000 workers here. Since this business is VAT-free,so the unauthorised market is expanding,” says Puneet Kumar,a scrap dealer,who estimates his loss due to the Sunday fire to be around Rs 20 lakh.

A property dealer in the area,Raj Kumar of Billu Properties,says,“Out of the total 3,000 PVC dealers,around 2,000 are ready to shift to Tikri Kalan. The feud boils down to the issue of big and small entrepreneurship.”

Kumar also alleges political pressure in the Tikri Kalan area as “the market is actually run by a member of the state cabinet”.

Tanwar believes the government should provide additional benefits to them as they are taking care of the waste not managed by the government. “We are working in place of the MCD and still are not getting any help from the government. Ninety-nine per cent of the workers are Schedule Castes here. There are around 400 proprietors who should get the allotted land at Tikri Kalan,” he says.

— Reporters are students of EXIMS