It’s as though these swaths of sky couldn’t hold together any longer. As though they’d given up, they were dropping down all over the city. This is one way of looking at the blue tarpaulin sheets that currently cover parts of Shahjahanabad’s Walled City.
The major market strip between Tiraha Behram Khan and Chitli Qabar Chowk is packed to the brim on this frigid day (mostly maskless). Lace, dupattas, sheets, and lehengas fill the shop windows as a source of diversion. Nobody looks up, but the tarpaulins draped across multiple facades make quite a spectacle. They are proof of continuing constructions, and have been wrapped around the impending structures to prevent dust from spreading about, according to one retailer.
Purani Dilli is evolving at a breakneck pace, according to the tarpaulins. Old structures are being demolished and replaced with new ones. Take, for example, this draped edifice-in-progress on the market street. It’s close to a weathered structure with arched doors, wooden windows, and ornately carved balconies. If one wonders how long this decrepit monument will be permitted to survive, one should not be surprised by the appearance of the adjacent shrouded building that is ready to rise. Its gleaming cousins are already sprouting up in the historic district, and they all look the same – massive residential apartment towers. At Kamra Bangash, the turn towards Gali Kala Mahal is marked by a multi storey apartment building that would not appear out of place in a Ghaziabad suburb.
Post Your Comments