Midnight demolition at Sarojini Nagar highlights market’s longstanding hawker crisis

India Today

A surprise late-night anti-encroachment drive by NDMC at Delhi’s iconic Sarojini Nagar market on May 17, 2025, saw bulldozers dismantle extensions and signage from nearly 150 shops.

Transcript

00:00That's the iconic Sarojini Nagar market, where whenever an NDMC truck pulled up, vendors sprang

00:10into action, grabbing clothes, folding tables, dragging carts, doing whatever they could to

00:15save the stuff before the officials swooped in. On the night of 17th May 2025, NDMC carried out

00:21a surprise anti-encroachment drive at Sarojini Nagar market, removing shop extensions,

00:26awnings, signage and permanent structures from nearly 150 shops. However, such crackdowns are

00:38nothing new in Sarojini Nagar. Anti-encroachment drives by NDMC and Delhi police are routine

00:44and have surged since Chief Minister Rekha Gupta's 20-day cleanliness and decongestion campaign,

00:49which began on 1st May 2025. Sarojini Nagar's hawker problem has simmered for decades. The market

00:55originally designed for a few hundred traders now sees over 2,000 unauthorised hawkers daily,

01:00far beyond the 150 vendors and 450 shopkeepers NDMC officially permitted in 2021.

01:15Stalls spill onto walkways, staircases and roads, often choking the market's layout.

01:21Sarojini Nagar sees over 50,000 shoppers daily, doubling on weekends. At peak hours,

01:2610,000 people entered per hour. The encroachments and huge footfall often make movement nearly

01:32impossible. Despite dangers like the near-stampede in December 2020 and the fire in May 2023,

01:38intensified by flammable goods stored in illegal extensions, Sarojini Nagar remains the most famous

01:44shopping destination for bargain hunters from Delhi and beyond. As Sarojini Nagar battles illegal

01:49encroachment and crowding, hawkers say they face daily harassment, exploitation and eviction threats,

01:55despite promises of legal vending zones and protection.

02:02After the midnight anti-encroachment drive on May 17, 2025, traders alleged that there was no prior

02:08notice and claimed legitimate businesses were targeted, leaving behind a scene that looked like this.

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