“Defcol is not what it was” is being heard frequently these days. So many of us who have grown up here lament so. As kids earlier, most persons knew each other and played together in the evenings. Cricket, hide and seek, badminton and so on.
A beautiful homely residential area, Defcol was envied by those not living here. And then the Defcol Club opened adding to the happiness of kids and elders alike. The card room, Bridge Room, Billiards, walking and playing in the parks.Delightful bliss. So what has happened now? The same which has happened all over Delhi, India and in the larger sense the world.Defcol has however not been able to adapt with the same pace as has the development of the colony.
This colony was the “neighbour’s envy” and hence people have moved in and over populated the colony. (a) Rampant Commer-cialisation. Defcol is very popular with the lawyer community due to its easy access to many courts. (Supreme Court, High Court, Patiala House, Saket etc.) Moreover, lawyers now are earning big bucks and can afford to purchase / rent in Defcol. To the best of my knowledge, such professionals are legally permitted to use their own houses partially as their own office too. And so it is difficult to check if it is an owner who is running an office or a tenant. This has led to a high demand of space and construction of multiple floors.
Near total commercialisation of the periphery of Defcol like along Ring Road (E Block), along Bhishmapitamah Marg (parts of A and B Blocks) and on Lala Lajpat Rai Road (parts of D Block). Restaurants are now permitted to function till 1 am daily. Their clientele is in and out and around the colony till 1 am with some of them playing blaring music in their cars. The restaurants themselves are culprits in creating noise pollution with music. Plus, there are 24-hour hospitals in the colony.
Several schools which open early. (b) Huge increase in population within the colony. This directly relates to high volume of traffic. Honking, lack of parking, accidents, thefts, road rage, enhanced business hours by the innumerable Law offices and other offices and so on. (c) Covering of the Nala. Yes with the covering of the Nala, we can boast of a large park which has locally changed its name from Nala Park to Central Park. But the inability by the authorities to clean the Nala beneath the concrete and their inability to maintain the park above has given realisation that the covering was not a good idea. The stench from it is at times unbearable; it’s a potent mosquito breeding area and a bane to the colony. It needs a thorough cleaning at least once a year and a water filtration plant upstream (say in the area of Andrews Gunj). The same filtered water can be pumped up providing water for the park and the filtration plant will also produce composite manure for the park and for distribution to other areas. The stench of the nala is thereby controlled, mosquito menace considerably reduced and a green “Central Park” replaces the present shoddy and dirty place. (d) Unauthorised parking of cars by residents of neighbouring localities. Owning a car or more than one is affordable by those who could not afford one earlier. And there is lack of space for parking in our neighbouring colonies. Naturally they will park in Defcol which comparatively has broader roads with space on both sides. Defcol has thus become congested. One resident has suggested that the authorities create parking space in these neighbouring colonies. Very possible with automated parking lots. I have for the sake of brevity only touched upon few major issues and not mentioned issues like blocked sewage, builders control, CCTV coverage, pruning of trees, maintenance of streetlights, traffic management, need for various signages and so on. Incidentally, there is no display board indicating even the name of “DEFENCE COLONY” at any of the entrances to the colony.
