Highly congested and severely neglected for years now, Lado Sarai is an over 300-year-old small village in South Delhi, which is ironically more famous for designer boutiques, restaurants, art galleries and design studios.
The residents too have realised that renting out space to artistes gives them a decent-sized extra income.
All the creativity, however, seems to have failed to touch the village, which remains a maze of open sewers, heaps of garbage, vacant land lying disused, water-logged streets, open drains and haphazard everyday living, which gives the area a slum-like appearance.
With an aim to revive this medieval era colony, the Delhi Urban Art Commission (DUAC) has carried out a comprehensive study and established dialogue with the locals to identify the problems and arrive at the best possible solutions.
Early this November, the Commission consultants visited Lado Sarai.
In a meeting with the residents and Residents’ Welfare Association, they explained the need and the idea of revival of their ‘sarai’.
Some major issues plaguing the village include Lado Sarai’s disconnection with the surrounding areas due to intra-city roads around it, dense building activity in the village leading to problems of drainage and sanitation, and deficit of public utilities and social infrastructure.
The DUAC has also concentrated on how to utilise open areas within Lado Sarai like spaces near Kali Mandir, Prem Singh Ki Gali and Harijan Chaupal, which are being used as junkyards. The Commission says they can be used to better distribute the density or better the aesthetics.
The village has few drains. Surface water flows onto Old M.B. Road, Khaliya Road and Harijan Road.
Water from houses, rainwater and sewage also gets mixed. Houses on the outskirts do not face water scarcity, while those inside suffer from acute water crisis. Haphazard car parking and stray animals also add to the woes.
There was a time when tourists visited Lado Sarai to experience its lifestyle, recollects Lado Sarai RWA president Devender Kumar.
“I have seen it as a child too. Tourists used to come visiting us and see how we kept our houses, how we cooked, etc. They used to experience India here. Now, this place is a mess.”
“Lado Sarai was developed as an unplanned village, but earlier the density was less. Now it has 35,000 people, which demands development of basic infrastructure. Drainage is the basic problem and open drains are the cause of various diseases. Sewerage system needs to be developed. There are no lines for water supply,” added Mr. Kumar .
