Rohini offers over 5000 flats out of the 16,000 put up for sale recently by DDA. Vimal Chander Joshi tells you what it's like over there now There are over 5,000 apartments up for grabs in Rohini out of the 16,000 offered in the DDA sale that continues for two weeks until December 24. Most of the apartments comprise just one bedroom, hall and kitchen (BHK), barring the 560 threeBHK flats in Sector 29.
A straight road from the outer Ring Road leads you to the DDA apartments in Sector 18, located close to Badli village and not far from the District Jail of Rohini.
Your surroundings are not worth writing home about when you enter the lane leading to the DDA locality. There is an old slum sandwiched between the two (DDA) societies one for which the allotments were done in 2008 and the other which is on sale now.
At the main entrance of Block-F (where the flats are for sale) you can spot a huge pile of garbage, most of it spilling over on the lane passing by. A mobile toilet parked in a corner remains unused a the slum dwellers prefer the brick and mortar toilet right next to the colony.
What compensates for the dirt, however, is the greenery.
“This area is so green that the average temperature here is lower than that of other sectors of Rohini,“ says Dr (Major) RN Singh, a physician who has a clinic in the market nearby.
The interior of Block-F, however, is clean. Parking space outside all the four towers of this society comprising 300 flats seems to be adequate. Two small markets (with just a few shops open) GRAPH: SANJAY KAPOOR are located nearby and a weekly market opens here every Wednesday. Though the vendors in this market say they are waiting for their “future customers“ who will be allotted the DDA flats, they are at present catering to the residents of the adjoining flats, including Astha Kunj and Paradise Apartments.
People here, however, have one grouse that the nearest Metro station is located more than four km away, in Rithala.
Connectivity otherwise is good, with a number of buses servicing the area close to the DDA colony. Besides that, there is not much to talk about in terms of the infrastructure.
In fact, the only thing that the locals mention when you ask about the facilities here is the pathological laboratory, which has recently opened here.
DDA has priced its one-BHK apartments just adequate for nuclear families with little children in the range of R15 lakh to R16 lakh, whereas the property dealers estimate their value at R25 lakh. It is important to note here that apartments of the same size (oneBHK) were allotted for R11 lakh two years ago by DDA.
Sectors 28-29: Rustic ambience Though located in Rohini, the villages of Khera, Prahladpur and Daulatpur give a rustic flavour to sectors 28-29. Cropladen farmland stretches greet you here.
Small buildings dot the fields and rural folk from the Shahbad Dairy area men with red turbans and white dhotis can be seen driving cattle. This is in stark contrast to the other face of Rohini with its malls, highrise apartments and the much-talked-about Japanese Park.
So, will sector 28-29 be able to develop like the other parts of Rohini?
Looking at the apartments housed in DDA's five-storey buildings, you get your answer. After the allotments, when the colony is populated, the demographics of the entire area are likely to change within a period of four months.
A hopeful buyer, clutching DDA's booklet, who has come to look at the flats on sale, is optimistic: “Everything will change soon... when thousands of families move in here in one go.“
Not all, however, agree with him. Bajrang Garg, a property dealer in the area, complains about the “water scarcity, frequent power cuts and unmetalled roads. There are no good hospitals or schools in the neighbourhood (St Xavier School is located one km away, though). Who will come to stay here? To compound the problem, the flats are overpriced.“
|
