NEW DELHI: Karol Bagh—a shopper’s delight with Ajmal Khan Road offering affordable readymade garments, cotton yarn and embroidered garments, Arya Samaj Road housing second-hand books market, and Bank Street with jewellery shops—has also earned a name of being the noisiest location of the national capital.
It recently recorded an average day-time decibel levels of 74.2 dB(A) in 2023, data from the Economic Survey 2023-24 shows. It was the fourth consecutive year that the station has recorded the highest average decibel levels in a year since it was set up in 2020.
Encroachments, parking woes and traffic snarls—the reasons are many.
“I have been living in the locality since the 1990s, and it used to be a quiet place with only the market area being noisy. I even remember bicycling and playing on the streets. But today, every lane is dotted with vehicles. The streets have narrowed, thanks to illegal encroachment. At times, authorities come for inspection and clear the roads. But that remains for a few days only,” a Karol Bagh resident living near Ajmal Khan Road said.
The other main issue is mushrooming coaching institutes. “Many residents have converted their houses into PGs and hostels. This has led to constant hustle and bustle. Moreover, many food outlets and stationery shops are running illegally on roads, blocking the pedestrian way and limiting the parking space,” another resident said.
Karol Bagh, one of the assembly segments of the New Delhi constituency, came into existence in 1961. The locality is dominated by Dalit voters, specifically the Regards, a sub-caste within the Dalits. This constituency has 1,64,742 prospective voters, out of which 90,449 are male, 74,285 are female, and 8 are transgenders.
The Karol Bagh used to be a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) bastion, having elected Surendra Pal Ratawal of the saffron party in the 1993, 2003, and 2008 Delhi state assembly elections. In 2015, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) candidate Vishesh Ravi won the constituency. In 2020, Ravi of the AAP won this constituency by defeating Yogender Chandoliya of the BJP.
Congress won once in the last seven major elections, and BJP and AAP thrice each. This time, the BJP has Bansuri Swaraj, Sushma Swaraj’s daughter, to challenge AAP’s Somnath Bharti.
The contest
Congress won Karol Bagh once in the last seven major elections, and BJP and AAP thrice each. Falling under New Delhi Lok Sabha seat, the BJP has Bansuri Swaraj, Sushma Swaraj’s daughter, to challenge AAP’s Somnath Bharti.