NEW DELHI: Palika Bazar, the city’s only underground market located in Connaught Place, which once had a daily footfall of 20,000 customers, is beset with poor sanitary conditions like overflowing garbage in dustbins, dirty floors, and untidy washrooms among other issues for months, according to the Palika Bazar Shopkeepers Welfare Association.
Association members allege that there has been a lack of response from officials of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) despite several reminders to improve the civic conditions inside the market premises. Talking to this newspaper, Mahesh Jaitley, vice president of the body who also owns a garment shop in the complex, said that the machinery for proper cleaning and sweeping the market is quite inadequate and old, which ends up giving a shabby look to the market.
“The dustbins keep overflowing with garbage many times and due to inadequate staff provided by the contractor, the issue remains unresolved,” he said. Baljeet Singh Kohli, chairman of the association, said that there are only women staff members and two men to attend to the eight washrooms in the market in the morning shift which gets halved in the evening.
“Sometimes, due to lack of staff, even the women staff is forced to clean the men’s washrooms,” he alleged. Many shopkeepers said that the civic body’s failure to revamp the ageing market infrastructure has led to disenchanted customers and a drop in footfall.
Commenting on the issue, Satish Upadhyay, vice chairman of NDMC, said that the sanitation work had been outsourced to a third party which has been employing mechanical housekeeping methods since August 23, 2023. “However, the challenges posed by the large number of visitors may sometimes lead to complaints. Instructions have been given to the concerned department to address the same,” he said.