The urban village
CHAOS PREVAILS
The locality of Mahipalpur is a hub of filth and debris.
What marks this residential cum commercial area of Delhi are bad roads spilled with drainage water.
On Haryana’s border, Mahipalpur can be considered as one of the most important locations in Delhi, due to its proximity to Indira Gandhi International Airport, but right now it cries for help.
Another issue here is that of increasing house rent every year. “I am fed up with the increased rent every year. For electricity too, landlords charge us more than the actual rate per unit. But since I have a family here, shifting to another place is extremely difficult and so I continue paying more than required,” says Vinayak Jha, a resident of Mahipalpur.
Few weeks back Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) demolished some illegal and unauthorised constructions here, but the debris still lies scattered on the roads.
“This area was already very dirty, filthy and unhygienic. Now after MCD erased some buildings, this place is a living hell. It is difficult to walk on the streets since they are covered under layers of debris,” says Anita Singh, another resident.
Mahipalpur is a village in South-West Delhi and its adjoining areas are Palam, Ansari Nagar, Vasant Vihar and Subroto Park. The place is also surrounded by many low and high budget hotels.
The trail of unhappiness continues. Nordan Lepcha who is also a resident here explains, “Living here is more like a compulsion because I work at the airport. I have no option but to go on suffering. It is still a village with locals dominating the area.
They misbehave so much. Our girls are not very safe here because we are looked upon as outsiders.”
The harrowed resident adds, “Your neighbours here don’t respect you. Just because we’re from the North-East we are ill-treated. Is it our fault that we don’t look like them?”
