Circle Of Woes

CONNAUGHT Place is to Delhi what Nariman Point is to Bombay and Park Street to Calcutta, right? And not only is it a shopper's paradise, but also an integral part of the capital's history and architectural heritage, right? The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) doesn't necessarily agree. At 4:30 am on May 9, the NDMC conducted its own version of a commando operation. It turned off the electricity supply to Connaught Place (now officially known as Rajiv Chowk) and moved in with a posse of nearly 100 employees, who ruthlessly tore down the glow signs above the shops. Shopkeepers, who arrived later, looked on helplessly at the audacity of this operation. Though they later managed to get a stay order from the court for the few remaining glow signs, with this one stroke shops in Connaught Place, arguably the country's premium shopping complex over the last 50 years, were rendered nameless.

But this was just one of the many blows Connaught Place has been suffering over the last year, even as it struggles to maintain its popularity as a shopping complex, threatened as it is by others burgeoning in south Delhi. Last summer, traders in Delhi shut shop for at least 20 days in protest against the Delhi Rent Control Act 1995. For, if the Act comes into effect, tenants in Delhi, both commercial and residential, will have to shut shop or house and move out. "We recognise the need for amendments in the current Rent Control Act. But the amendments have to balance the interests of both the tenant and landlord. The new law favours the landlords totally," says M.M. Agarwal, president of the New Delhi Traders Association (NDTA), a body which represents the shopkeepers of Connaught Place.

Traders in Connaught Place were in the forefront of the agitation and bore the brunt of the losses. The Act, which has been passed by both Houses of Parliament and even got presidential assent, still hangs as a Damocles' sword over the shopkeepers since it merely awaits notification. In view of the strong protests carried out by the traders the previous government stopped short of notifying the Act, and the BJP has promised to review it.

Connaught Place was still struggling to get down to business after the successful agitation when politicians struck again. In a display of inspired sychophancy—that would have R.T. Russell, the man who designed this circular complex, turning in his grave—Mani Shankar Aiyer got the Home Ministry to rename Connaught Place. The inner circle was named Rajiv Chowk and the outer circle Indira Chowk. And last month, Connaught Place officially lost its identity when the NDMC approved the change of name.

And now, this has been followed by the NDMC tearing down the glow signs above the shops. In fact, this issue has been on the backburner for a long time now. In 1958, the NDMC decided to levy an advertisement tax on all signboards, which was successfully contested in the High Court by the NDTA. Eventually in October 1995, the Supreme Court delivered a judgement in favour of the NDMC. Says Agarwal: "Though a review petition is pending, the NDMC issued notices this January to all shops in Connaught Place asking them to pay advertisement tax with retrospective effect from 1974." The NDMC was also adamant that all glow signs in Connaught Place be bilingual and uniform in size. Since the shopkeepers didn't comply with the notices sent four months back, the NDMC removed the signboards worth lakhs of rupees on May 9.

NDMC Chairperson Baleshwar Rai was unavailable for comment despite repeated attempts, but a council spokesperson said the signs were removed on account of aesthetics, and not advertisement tax. "NDMC wants uniformity for better aesthetic sense. If the notices are not implemented we have to take the necessary action," he said.

But the NDTA feels it has a case. Says Agar-wal: "The glow signs are on private property, they are not advertisements and merely mention the name of the shop, and nowhere in the world are they taxed. Besides, signs of the same size defy logic as nobody has gone overboard."

 As of now, an uneasy tension prevails between the NDMC and NDTA. Agarwal claims that Rai has adopted a "totally dictatorial attitude, as he is responsible to no one but the Home Ministry, which is hardly concerned". In a way, Connaught Place's problems stem from the fact that the Delhi Assembly does not have the requisite powers and Connaught Place is not high on the Centre's agenda. If things keep going this way, Delhi may soon see one of its nerve centres crumble.