A day after Cockroach Janta Party-led student protest, the Jantar Mantar site where slogans echoed for weeks has turned silent. On Sunday, it was off-limits for general public with barricades still in place and heavy deployment of security personnel and cleaning work was being carried out.
Event Context
NDMC officials said the restoration operation includes pressure washing, cleaning graffiti from walls, restoring damaged signposts, repairing kerbstones, green belts and damaged dividers.
“From last night until today, more than 500 officers and employees participated in the drive, undertaking cleaning, washing, repair and restoration of roads, footpaths, central verges, green belts, walls and other public spaces. We are carrying out intensive road and footpath cleaning using jetting machines, removed slogans from public walls followed by repainting, repaired damaged kerbstones and restored footpaths,” said NDMC vice chairperson Kuljeet Chahal. More than 500 workers, one excavator, two trucks, seven pressure jetting machines and eight auto tippers have been pressed into the work.
Between Saturday night and Sunday morning, a total of 62 tonnes of waste has been cleared, which is more than the normal contribution of the area as a result of the massive footfall, said NDMC.
When HT visited the protest site on Sunday morning, the walls in the area that been covered in slogans such as “Inquilab Zindabad” and “We exist because we resist” were being repainted.
A 41-year-old NDMC staff member, requesting anonymity, said he is usually assigned to the Gole Market area but was deployed on emergency duty to ensure the clean-up operation was completed quickly.
“There are many of us from circle two and three who came at 6am on emergency duty to wrap all work before the day ends,” he added.
Nearby markets, including Connaught Place, Palika Bazaar and Janpath, which had fallen unusually quiet during the protest, also showed signs of a return to normalcy with restoration of internet and Metro services. Shops in the area, which had been asked to close early in light of the protests, also returned to normal operating hours.
Keshav Sood, 40, who owns a clothing-shop in Janpath Market, said he at his shop after several days. “Today, I have come to the shop in the morning. Over the last four or five days, I had come only for an hour or two because hardly any customers were coming.”
Sunil Kumar, 40, a shopkeeper in Janpath’s Gujarati lane, said he had put all his merchandise back on display.
“Although I kept my shop open on all days except the day of the march and the following day, I barely displayed any merchandise because there was always the fear that something might suddenly happen and we would be asked to shut our shops,” said Kumar as he showed his sarees to a foreign customer.
A few steps away, the manager of a pizza outlet requesting anonymity said the restaurant continued to accept online orders from Monday to Saturday, while its dine-in service resumed on Sunday.
“We were only taking online orders and received many requests from the protest site. People would leave messages such as, ‘Send it to my friends who are protesting.’ But dine-in service resumed from today,” he said.
Ajay Kumar, 23, a street vendor who sells phone covers, said that, while shops were allowed to operate during restricted hours, street vendors were among the worst affected. “I stayed at home from Wednesday. I am happy that the uncertainty is finally over. But still footfall is not back to normal.”
Atul Bhargava, president of the New DelhiTraders Association (NDTA) for Connaught Place(CP), said that after a week of lacklustre sales,business is finally showing signs of revival.
“CP, Palika Bazaar, and Janpath Market are located very close to the protest site and were therefore significantly impacted. Sales declined by around 25%, particularly due to the closure during peak business hours. The situation is now improving, but it may take another day or two for normalcy to be fully restored,” Bhargava said.
Amruta, 29, who hails from Gujarat and was in Delhi for official work, said that despite being free for the past two days, she kept postponing her plans to visit the market.
“I came to Delhi on Thursday to attend a convention and decided to stay over the weekend to shop. I have shopped in CP earlier as well, but my social media feed was filled with visuals of the protest. I am glad things are better now; at least I can shop a little before returning in the evening,” she said.
While the unrest kept many visitors away from the market, auto drivers in the area said traffic congestion and restrictions discouraged them from taking short rides within the 2-3 km radius of the protest site.
“I have come to the CP area after three days as heavy force deployment, barricades and protesters in the street resulted in constant traffic in the area,” 62-year-old auto driver, Rajeshwar Choudhary.
