The much-delayed Khan Market redevelopment plan is back on track. After lying in abeyance since 2011, the plan has finally reached a point of consensus between the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the two traders’ associations active in the posh market. The revamp blueprint has been modified and will now be carried out in three phases.
Although the redevelopment plan has already been approved by the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD), waste management was another issue which was stuck due to differences between the Khan Market Traders Association (KMTA), Khan Market Welfare Association (KMWA) and the NDMC. “There will be a common effluent treatment plant (ETP) now which has been agreed by all. The civic body has, however, asked the traders to carry out façade redevelopment on their own. The small parking area right in front the market will be turned into a green area,” informed a senior official.
The revised redevelopment plan will regularise the illegal constructions carried out by traders on the first floor. “The NDMC will give us compensatory floor area ratio (FAR) of up to 3 feet on the first floor. In other words, the encroachment done on the first floor courtyards will now be regularised,” said Sanjiv Mehra, president, KMTA.
The previous plan included the construction of a metal platform on the first floor with 14 collapsible ladders on both sides of the middle street. A rift brewed between the traders’ association and NDMC due to this as shops on the first floor were then asked to shift their respective air conditioner units on the terrace to make provision for a fire exit, which would have opened on to the metal platform.