‘All that remains is a skeleton’: In a West Delhi village, building for first teachers university lies empty and dilapidated
Google Maps, meanwhile, continues to identify the building as the Delhi Teachers University and also as ITI Bakkarwala. The Delhi Teachers University website shows its address at Outram Lane, New Delhi.
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The building in West Delhi’s Bakkarwala village then (left) and now. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)In West Delhi’s Bakkarwala village is a dilapidated four-storey building. The once-white exterior now sports splotches of black, the windows are gaping holes with no panes, and the grille door is half open with a stray dog lying outside on the stairs.
Built in 2022, this was to be the Delhi Teachers University (DTU) campus. The interiors are in worse shape — on each floor, large chunks of the false ceiling lie scattered across the ground, there is shattered glass as well; the toilets are broken, the walls and water tanks sport graffiti, and the electrical wiring is missing. On one side, the drainage pipe has also been cut out.
On either side of the building is a school and a slum colony while empty farmlands are spread across. In front of the building, locals have pitched two goalposts where children play football and cricket in the evening.
Construction of the building started in 2018-2019 and was finished in 2021-2022. “Last year, there was a security guard who would sit outside the building. Now it’s left abandoned,” says Virendra Sehrawat, a farmer in Bakkarwala village.
“All that’s left now is the skeleton of the building,” he adds.
According to official sources, the building was built by the Directorate of Training and Technical Education to start the Capital’s first teachers university to prepare qualified teachers. It had planned to appoint globally reputed scholars as Vice-Chancellor and Professors.
The building in West Delhi’s Bakkarwala village then (left) and now. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)
When contacted, the Delhi government in an official response says the Directorate of Training and Technical Education did not transfer the land to the university citing legal issues. “Thereafter, the DTU approached the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for land. DDA allotted 12.5 acres in Narela. Possession of the land has not been given to the university yet,” it says.
Google Maps, meanwhile, continues to identify the building as the Delhi Teachers University and also as ITI Bakkarwala. The Delhi Teachers University website shows its address at Outram Lane, New Delhi.
Villagers, however, say they have not been told about the purpose of the building and claim it has become a hub for drug addicts who have been stealing iron, wires, and other parts. When the building was constructed, it was covered in green aluminium composite panels — this too was stolen, say locals.
Sehrawat quips that even the iron staircase of the fire escape would vanish if no one paid heed to the building. “They tried too but the door to the fire escape is locked,” he adds.
“Many thieves were often caught and handed over to Ranhola police station but no action was taken to protect the building,” claims Jai Bhagwan, a businessman from the area.
According to the government’s plan, the university was to be set up on 12 acres and students would be able to apply for admission from 2022. It was to have lecture halls, digital labs, and a library with world-class facilities. It was to be divided into two blocks — the Administrative floor and the Education floor. The ground floor was supposed to have an administration office, whereas classes were supposed to run on the first, second and third floors.
In January of that year, then Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia visited the under-construction campus and said it would be opened for a total of 5,000 students. He also said the department concerned was working on bringing in the best teachers who’ve worked with foreign universities.
Paras Tyagi from the Centre for Youth Culture Law and Environment (CYCLE), a public policy research organisation based out of an urban village in Delhi, says letters were written to the L-G, Education Minister, Directorate of Training and Technical Education to let villagers utilise the building for other purposes. “After our interaction with villagers, we came up with a practical demand of using the space for indoor sports or a library, and the outside space as a park, sports grounds, and tree plantation. But even after requests and complaints to the vigilance department, there has been complete ignorance of our demands,” he claims.
He says the building came up on gram sabha land but now it is of no use to anyone.
Villagers say they had apprehensions even when the building was being constructed with almost no proper road connectivity.
For Sehrawat, this is nothing but a waste of taxpayers’ money. “If they started a college here, it would have helped our children. There is a school till Class XII right behind the university building… despite taking away our village land, they have not been able to do anything with it,” he adds.
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