Several second hand vehicle dealers in the Capital have encroached upon significant portion of roads and pavements thus leading to complete chaos in the localities. lajpat Nagar, Defence Colony, CR Park, Shakarpur and Karol Bagh are major markets of old vehicles, where residents are suffering due to apathy of authority as these dealers park vehicles illegally on public land in a haphazard manner caring little about Municipal Corporation or Delhi Traffic Police.
locals alleged that the civic body officials and the police are hand in glove with the shopkeepers thus, they have turned a blind eye to the squatting. They also said if they oppose or complain about encroachment, they have to face the fury of the car dealers. “They park their cars just in front of my entrance gate and when I protested; they started fighting with me. I also reported the matter to the police, but in vain. They are all conniving with each other,” said one of the residents.
A service lane near lajpat Nagar Metro Station has completely been taken over by these dealers and they have left numerous second hand motorcycles and cars on the entire stretch. Besides residents of the area, visitors coming to the market also face difficulties to manoeuvre their way out through a maze of vehicles. Even locals have to leave their vehicles far from their residences due to this.
A senior citizen of Block A of lajpat Nagar said that around 5,000 people stay in the two blocks — A and B — and they feel helpless as the entire pavement as well as some portions of the roads are squatted upon and there is hardly space left for the commuters to walk. In Karol Bagh, entire Arya Samaj Road and bylanes have been taken over by such dealers.
The residents said that with no action from the authority, they have now lost all hope. "Women and senior citizen in the area feel insecure due to huge crowd in the market. Snatching, eve-teasing and thefts have become common in the area. I do not allow my children to go out to play in the evening," said Anu Sharma, a resident of the area.
RP Sharma, a retired officer of Training and Technical Education Department said that a group of powerful traders have been running the illegal business since many years. "In last 10 years I have filed many complaints against these traders. The MCD as well as the Delhi Police are aware of this issue, but no strict action has been taken against them so far," he said.