Following NDMC crackdown on restaurants in CP, Khan Market, too, has shut down rooftop seating in all outlets, which has affected business, traders say
Free on Saturday? How about leisurely window shopping in the iconic Khan Market? And don't worry about the mad weekend rush, for now a walk in the narrow alleys of the popular area is a breeze.
Following the New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) crackdown on restaurants in Connaught Place (CP), Khan Market, too, has shut down its rooftop seating in all outlets, which has affected the business "phenomenally". Some places have registered as much as 60 per cent dip in walk-ins.
Outlets such as Chatterhouse, Boombox Cafe, Wok in the Clouds, among others, have discontinued outdoor seating after receiving notices from the civic body about a month ago. While most of them squarely attributed the move to the civic body, owners of places such as Town Hall and Public Affair maintained that they shut rooftop operations because of "technical issues", refusing to elaborate further.
With no official word on when they would restart operations, the owners said they were already incurring huge losses. Talking to DNA, Simran Singh, Manager, Wok In the Clouds, said: "We have seen a decline of at least 30-40 per cent in our sales since we stopped operations on the rooftop, after we got instructions from the NDMC. The place is always teeming with activity on weekends but business is slow now. Also, this is the perfect weather to sit outside and enjoy a lazy Sunday brunch, but not anymore."
Echoing the sentiment, Heena, who is managing Boombox Cafe, said 60-70 per cent of their sales came from rooftop operations. "We have a cover of around 50 on the roof. The place is frequented by young people and they prefer to sit outside. Leave alone weekdays, we are not doing well even on weekends now," she said.
Many have expressed resentment against the civic body's "arbitrary" move.
"We use the rooftop as a smoking zone. Now, weekdays go largely empty and business has come down by 20-30 per cent on weekends. Roads leading to Khan Market used to be choked on weekends. It is so easy to find parking on Saturdays now," Chatterhouse Manager Shiveshwar Jha said.
"I personally feel that the NDMC itself is not clear about its rules. First they clear our license to run the operations as we want and then they start issuing notices, which is more like harassment. One cannot draw comparisons between Khan Market and CP. CP is a heritage site and needs to be conserved. This, on the other hand, is a relatively new market," he added.
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