Old Delhi, the congested city of Mughals and history, is witnessing a magnificent revival of fortunes, thanks to the metro.
Old Delhi was dying. Its residents were fleeing the congested by-lanes, shops were shutting down and the stench of decay was everywhere. Old Delhi’s once regal past was a distant memory.
Then came the metro rail in December 2002 and the old city chugged a retro path back to its old glory. Several feet below the earth, a new world was born — glitzy stations, foreign coaches and air-conditioned travel. It was magical and life changed. Shoppers poured out of metro coaches during lunch breaks, shops reopened and old residents, some people say, continue to return to their closed and once-forgotten homes.
Old Delhi, the congested city of Mughals and history, is witnessing a magnificent revival of fortunes, thanks to the metro. “Before the metro, several shopkeepers were shifting from the bazaar to more accessible places,” recalls Kishor Lal, a bookshop owner in Nai Sadak, the wholesale books market in Old Delhi. “Thanks to the metro, the trend has reversed.”
“Earlier, people placed big orders with us but would not pay delivery charges. They blamed us for the inconvenience of visiting our shops. This caused us financial losses,” says Govind Das, another wholesaler. Shop owners in the accessible parts of the city bought books from Old Delhi and sold them to retailers elsewhere. But the metro has changed all that. Now, even the smallest trader in the farthest corner of the city deals directly with Old Delhi book stores. “Thank god everything is back to what it was,” Das said.
Even wedding card owners in the dark alleys of Nai Sadak were on the verge of shutting shop. But the metro has restored hope and business.
Sukbhir Singh was planning to quit his family’s wedding cards business. “Few people were coming for wedding cards. There was a time when I thought of quitting the business and move out.
“Now, things have changed. We are getting big orders and asked to deliver it to the Chawri Bazaar metro station. It has made our lives much easier,” Singh says.
When the Metro is fully completed in 2020, it would have a network spanning 413.8 km, linking the city and its suburbs in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. It is 260 km long now. By the time it is finished, over Rs50,000 crore would have been spent on India’s most modern urban transport network.
For Anita Malhotra, a housewife in Noida, the metro has come as a blessing.
“My husband fell severely ill five months back and had to be admitted to a hospital in Karol Bagh. I have small school-going kids. Travelling by car to the hospital would leave me financially weak. Thanks to the Noida metro it is not an expensive affair any more. I now travel to hospital as soon as my kids leave for school. I’m also able to return in time to pick them up. I go back to the hospital again in the evening while they go to play with their friends.”
Janaki Mathur, a west Delhi housewife, does not have to depend on her 55-year-old husband to pick up grocery on his way back from office. “Now, I take the metro to Janakpuri and buy it myself,” she says.
Even office-goers are having it easy. “I used to travel everyday from Dwarka to Noida for my job in an IT company. I liked the job but the distance was unbearable. The company provided a taxi but it required me to start two hours before my shift time. I now travel by metro and save two and a half hours everyday,” says Dwarka resident Rahul Katiyar.
Pooja Mehta of Noida works in an auto company in Janakpuri. Earlier, commuting used to be a nightmare as she was not able to afford a taxi or auto every day. “With the metro, I commute easily and still save money to help at home.”
“I live in Gurgaon and am a student of Khalsa College. I used to change two buses to reach college and had to leave very early to not miss classes. I now travel by metro and am listening to my iPod all the way,” said Rajesh Srivastav.
“I have a great time in the metro. It is air-conditioned and I get a seat easily as the train commences here. I have a gala time with my friends, most of who take the same metro to college,” said Shruti Chanda of Dwarka.
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