WASHED OUT
PART IConcrete works swallow Jia Sarai stepwellTOI traces city’s lost & dying water bodies in this series
Neha Lalchandani TNN
New Delhi: When Delhi Development Authority acquired land for IIT in 1960, it was a far cry from the crowded urban city centre it is now. In the middle of the flush open farmland was a stepwell which was almost transferred to Indian Institute of Technology but better sense prevailed and the civic authorities left it alone. This baoli is now lost under tightly packed concrete buildings.
Ranbir Singh, a resident of Jia Sarai where the stepwell is located, has been fighting for it since 1980s when the encroachment first started. The baoli is mentioned in Delhi government’s 2006 list which has recorded 629 water bodies in the city. “The land was first acquired by DDA and transferred to the municipal corporation a few years later. The land in question comes under khasras 74 and 75. DDA has said on record that the land is a water body and belongs to the municipal agency which is authorized to take action. However, till date, construction work is taking place. The stepwell has been covered entirely
and no part of it is visible,” said Singh.
Not much is known about the structure except that it is an old construction and built in an area of about 1.75 sq yard. “In 1982, a lower court had instructed that status quo be maintained on the land. Despite the order, the construction continued and private buildings cover not only the stepwell but a substantial area surrounding it. Only part of a wall is visible but that too is now enclosed by a residential building... Delhi Wakf Board has also complained against the encroachers,” said Singh.
Municipal officials have accepted in court that the area has been encroached upon and the buildings are illegal. However, no information has been given on what it intends to do with the illegal buildings or the construction that is taking place even now. Government officials say this is a classic case of land owning agencies being negligent. “The case has been dragging on for 30 years and if the departments wanted, they could have preserved the water body,” said an official.
DO YOU SEE A STEPWELL HERE? The baoli is mentioned in Delhi government’s 2006 list which has recorded 629 water bodies in the city
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