Makeover complete for Yusuf Zai Market

Post-renovation,uniform signages have replaced the haphazardly placed ones,and pillars have been given a fresh coat of plaster. The biggest change is seen on the building’s front — levelled and aligned,with a smooth finish. ‘Jaalis’ have been carved on the top floor for ventilation,and glass panes have replaced the wooden windows.

“It took a year to finish the project and it has been satisfactory,” H S Moti,the president of Connaught Circus Municipal Market Association,said.

Work on the project began in December 2007. The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the shopkeepers have shared the expenses — each shop pitched in with Rs 30,000 for the renovation. The market has 102 shops.

The Yusuf Zai is one of the nine small markets being restored by the NDMC ahead of the Commonwealth Games. The others are: Shankar Market,Basurkar Market,Begum Zaidi Market,Netaji Nagar Market,Nauroji Nagar Market,Lodhi Road Market,Kidwai Nagar Market (South and Central),and Laxmi Bai Market.

All these markets are more than 50 years old,and have been neglected for long.

After renovation,while interiors of the shops will remain untouched,the façade will be revamped by using uniform tiles on the walls and repairing the pillars,wherever present.

The renovation will be on the lines of the Janpath Market and Momo Market in Yashwant Singh Place that were the first markets in NDMC area to be revamped.

“The Yusuf Zai Market will be inaugurated on Monday but work on the footpaths still remains. That and the underground laying of electrical wires will be undertaken after the inauguration,” an NDMC official said.