Delhi fashion shops demolished

By Ayanjit Sen
BBC News, Delhi

Leading fashion designers own shops in the mall

Authorities in the Indian capital, Delhi, have begun demolishing shops belonging to leading fashion designers in an illegally built shopping mall.

The upscale mall is among the over 18,000 illegal constructions that are being pulled down across the city following a court order last year.

Designers like Rohit Bal, Muzaffar Ali and Lina N Singh own shops in the mall.

Over 900 illegal constructions have already been demolished in over a month since the drive began.

The mall on Delhi's Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road is the capital's most popular fashion destination for designers and consumers alike.

Targeting the 'influential'

There are some 60 shops, including a coffee bar, in the mall which was built nearly six years ago.

The demolition began under tight security with curious onlookers spilling on to the road and creating traffic congestion.

Some shops were hurriedly cleared of their goods by their owners as soon as officials of Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) arrived with the bulldozers and workmen.

This is nothing but mindless destruction Aruna Sharma, shop owner

But not all shop owners were lucky.

"We were asked to come out and we could not even get the furniture out. This is nothing but mindless destruction," said Aruna Sharma, owner of boutique in the mall.

Fashion designer Manav Ganjwani, who owns a shop in the mall, said they were made scapegoats by the authorities.

"We were doing good business and getting foreign revenue. The mall was a success story but a lot of people could not digest that," he said.

One designer who preferred to be unnamed said they had been selectively picked up for action by the municipal authorities.

"Municipal officials should demolish all such structures in the city together. They should not pick and choose," he said.

The Delhi high court, which has ordered the demolitions, recently remarked that action should be taken against the "powerful and the influential of the city" to send a message to the common man that he was not being discriminated against.

"If such an atmosphere exists, most of the citizens will themselves come forward to demolish their unauthorised or illegal structures," the court had said.