A Tale of Two Cities: How Delhi's RWAs get the job done
It is the best of times; it is the worst of times. It is the age of speed-dialling government agencies to prune trees and bushes; it is the age of garbage and water trucks unable to enter narrow streets and turning back. It is the epoch of MLAs and MCD councillors smiling through complaints of sarkari (government) inefficiency to maintain good relations with the complainants; it is the epoch of work promptly promised but begun long after private contractors have solved the problem. It is the season of street vendors plying their trade under threat of police action; it is the season of domestic workers walking out of houses under the faceless gaze of CCTV cameras operated by the same people they work for.
It is a tale of two cities, often unfolding in one.
Take Delhi, for instance. An hour's drive across the city's southern half will reveal two sides — gated societies with freshly trimmed grass next to localities with rivers of sewage.
Most of these societies have a Residents' Welfare Association (RWA); they are considered NGOs by the government under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and have no legal powers — but they do have social ones.
Since the 1970s, they have been considered powerful links between authorities and city dwellers. Former Congress CM Sheila Dikshit would famously meet RWA representatives during her tenure. The Aam Aadmi Party even promised them more funds in their 2020 and 2025 Delhi Assembly poll campaigns. WhatsApp groups are often full of demands by locals asking their elected RWA representatives to reach out to the civic authorities for road repairs, security, street lighting, or cleaning sewage pipes.
But there are caveats too. RWAs are often seen as conservative bodies, with only residents who pay to vote allowed to participate in decision-making. Young tenants frequently report monitoring non-vegetarian cooking, entry and exit of opposite-sex guests, and playing loud music.
Urban planning scholars like D Asher Ghertner have pointed to how RWAs may have made things easier for the upper class, but have excluded the poor from much of the decision-making that affects their lives.
With Delhi's administration changing political colours, The Indian Express travels to six localities around South Delhi — across income groups — to see how its RWAs, seen as the most influential in the city, are dealing with a range of issues.
The affluent colonies
In Greater Kailash 2, the primary issue seems to be encroachment. RWA president Ram Sharma says street vendors, who are supposed to only put up temporary stalls, have ended up making permanent structures — sometimes even building small huts in the back alleys of flats.
With the patronage of some residents, they share electricity and water connections or, in some cases, allegedly hijack them. 'When there's confrontation, we've even gone to the police and High Court. GK-2 is affluent but there's so much dirt. People have started calling it gutter Kailash,' says Sharma.
'Sometimes vendors go away if we take the help of the police but they come back,' he adds.
'There was once a structure between flats with a woman and her mother living there. They started it as a mud structure, then made it pucca. We got their bathroom destroyed. They even offered money to stay here but obviously, we wouldn't accept.'
The RWA has also written a letter to recently elected BJP MLA Shikha Roy, saying the colony is in danger of becoming a 'glorified slum.'
Ratna Sahi, RWA president of Sheikh Sarai's Triveni Apartments, has a similar complaint. While there are many issues of a civic nature — road or sewer lines not being repaired promptly — the biggest grouse seems to relate to drivers and domestic workers, many of whom work in the locality and come from the nearby Jagdamba slum.
Sahi says buses are parked outside the locality boundary late at night.
'In 2019, we moved the High Court to stop this illegal parking. In December, we even filed a contempt of court petition, with pictures of what goes on,' says Sahi.
'The traffic police commissioner came and fined them, but you know, a fine doesn't work. You fine them Rs 500, the bus and truck drivers will share the cost. You take action with a crane or whatever, only then it works,' she asserts.
Security is a concern in Vasant Kunj's C-9 block too. RWA Vice-President S K Kapoor says that while the body doesn't try to deal with street vendors — they forward any complaints to the MCD — he has instituted regular documentation of anyone who enters and exits the block, particularly domestic workers and dailywage labourers.
'Crime goes down with fear, not the police,' he says. 'I've created fear with all this, registration of who's coming in… If something happens, they know they'll get caught. I'm just here to do public service.'
The other side
The view changes down the income ladder. Over in Kalkaji Extension's DDA colony, for the erstwhile Bhoomiheen Camp slum-dwellers, the most common complaints are drugs being dealt to children, sewage discharge overflowing the streets, and seepage so rampant that houses risk falling.
Geeta Das, 'ad-hoc' president of the colony's RWA, is often met with requests to get windows repaired, bathroom pipes unblocked, and pensions released from government coffers. She's not the elected president as a formal RWA can't come into place till all houses are constructed and allotted, but because of her promptness in getting rid of a mountain of rubble around the locality when she first moved in, the DDA 'recognised' her as a leader 'who wants to take society in a good direction', she says.
She, along with 12 other residents, has formed an ad-hoc body.
A major concern of the area is the sale of marijuana and alcohol out of the DDA flats, often to youngsters.
Das says she has written letters to the Deputy Commissioner of Police and DDA to investigate the identities of the men but hasn't gotten an appointment with the latter's chief engineer in months.
'There are 2,000 families living here and some of the flats have been rented (to outsiders). That isn't supposed to happen. Some flats have four residents, some 12, but the size of the house remains the same – one bedroom and a drawing room…,' she claims.
At Aya Nagar, a village on the Delhi border, residents complain of dysfunctional tubewells, blocked sewage lines and roads so narrow that even ambulances find it difficult to enter if a family has an emergency.
But the biggest problem, they claim, is having to pay bribes to get any construction done in the area.
'We've written to the MCD and MLAs… but nobody has helped,' says Kush Kumar, President of the C-3 block's RWA.
For other issues, like water supply and garbage collection, tanks and trucks are brought in at personal cost, with the RWA collecting money based on the issue that crops up. 'The RWA is powerless (against the authorities),' says a local. 'What will they do?'
But there are also stories of solidarity. Madanpur Khadar, another border village of Delhi, deals with many of the same issues. But Abdul Wari, public secretary of a local RWA, says the body bands together whenever government agencies fail to come through.
He says, 'If garbage isn't collected on a day, there could be any number of reasons – maybe the truck's CNG tank didn't come, maybe the driver fell ill – but we have a WhatsApp group with residents and authorities. We send photos, they say it'll be taken care of.'
'Once, a resident wanted to bring a relative's corpse back from the hospital but the ambulance needed Rs 1,800,' he says.
'We got a letter signed by the committee, didn't ask for any donation, and used the money to help them out. We don't get any government funds but we keep a record of all that we collect. If someone isn't well, we try to help.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
A Tale of Two Cities: How Delhi's RWAs get the job done
It is the best of times; it is the worst of times. It is the age of speed-dialling government agencies to prune trees and bushes; it is the age of garbage and water trucks unable to enter narrow streets and turning back. It is the epoch of MLAs and MCD councillors smiling through complaints of sarkari (government) inefficiency to maintain good relations with the complainants; it is the epoch of work promptly promised but begun long after private contractors have solved the problem. It is the season of street vendors plying their trade under threat of police action; it is the season of domestic workers walking out of houses under the faceless gaze of CCTV cameras operated by the same people they work for. It is a tale of two cities, often unfolding in one. Take Delhi, for instance. An hour's drive across the city's southern half will reveal two sides — gated societies with freshly trimmed grass next to localities with rivers of sewage. Most of these societies have a Residents' Welfare Association (RWA); they are considered NGOs by the government under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and have no legal powers — but they do have social ones. Since the 1970s, they have been considered powerful links between authorities and city dwellers. Former Congress CM Sheila Dikshit would famously meet RWA representatives during her tenure. The Aam Aadmi Party even promised them more funds in their 2020 and 2025 Delhi Assembly poll campaigns. WhatsApp groups are often full of demands by locals asking their elected RWA representatives to reach out to the civic authorities for road repairs, security, street lighting, or cleaning sewage pipes. But there are caveats too. RWAs are often seen as conservative bodies, with only residents who pay to vote allowed to participate in decision-making. Young tenants frequently report monitoring non-vegetarian cooking, entry and exit of opposite-sex guests, and playing loud music. Urban planning scholars like D Asher Ghertner have pointed to how RWAs may have made things easier for the upper class, but have excluded the poor from much of the decision-making that affects their lives. With Delhi's administration changing political colours, The Indian Express travels to six localities around South Delhi — across income groups — to see how its RWAs, seen as the most influential in the city, are dealing with a range of issues. The affluent colonies In Greater Kailash 2, the primary issue seems to be encroachment. RWA president Ram Sharma says street vendors, who are supposed to only put up temporary stalls, have ended up making permanent structures — sometimes even building small huts in the back alleys of flats. With the patronage of some residents, they share electricity and water connections or, in some cases, allegedly hijack them. 'When there's confrontation, we've even gone to the police and High Court. GK-2 is affluent but there's so much dirt. People have started calling it gutter Kailash,' says Sharma. 'Sometimes vendors go away if we take the help of the police but they come back,' he adds. 'There was once a structure between flats with a woman and her mother living there. They started it as a mud structure, then made it pucca. We got their bathroom destroyed. They even offered money to stay here but obviously, we wouldn't accept.' The RWA has also written a letter to recently elected BJP MLA Shikha Roy, saying the colony is in danger of becoming a 'glorified slum.' Ratna Sahi, RWA president of Sheikh Sarai's Triveni Apartments, has a similar complaint. While there are many issues of a civic nature — road or sewer lines not being repaired promptly — the biggest grouse seems to relate to drivers and domestic workers, many of whom work in the locality and come from the nearby Jagdamba slum. Sahi says buses are parked outside the locality boundary late at night. 'In 2019, we moved the High Court to stop this illegal parking. In December, we even filed a contempt of court petition, with pictures of what goes on,' says Sahi. 'The traffic police commissioner came and fined them, but you know, a fine doesn't work. You fine them Rs 500, the bus and truck drivers will share the cost. You take action with a crane or whatever, only then it works,' she asserts. Security is a concern in Vasant Kunj's C-9 block too. RWA Vice-President S K Kapoor says that while the body doesn't try to deal with street vendors — they forward any complaints to the MCD — he has instituted regular documentation of anyone who enters and exits the block, particularly domestic workers and dailywage labourers. 'Crime goes down with fear, not the police,' he says. 'I've created fear with all this, registration of who's coming in… If something happens, they know they'll get caught. I'm just here to do public service.' The other side The view changes down the income ladder. Over in Kalkaji Extension's DDA colony, for the erstwhile Bhoomiheen Camp slum-dwellers, the most common complaints are drugs being dealt to children, sewage discharge overflowing the streets, and seepage so rampant that houses risk falling. Geeta Das, 'ad-hoc' president of the colony's RWA, is often met with requests to get windows repaired, bathroom pipes unblocked, and pensions released from government coffers. She's not the elected president as a formal RWA can't come into place till all houses are constructed and allotted, but because of her promptness in getting rid of a mountain of rubble around the locality when she first moved in, the DDA 'recognised' her as a leader 'who wants to take society in a good direction', she says. She, along with 12 other residents, has formed an ad-hoc body. A major concern of the area is the sale of marijuana and alcohol out of the DDA flats, often to youngsters. Das says she has written letters to the Deputy Commissioner of Police and DDA to investigate the identities of the men but hasn't gotten an appointment with the latter's chief engineer in months. 'There are 2,000 families living here and some of the flats have been rented (to outsiders). That isn't supposed to happen. Some flats have four residents, some 12, but the size of the house remains the same – one bedroom and a drawing room…,' she claims. At Aya Nagar, a village on the Delhi border, residents complain of dysfunctional tubewells, blocked sewage lines and roads so narrow that even ambulances find it difficult to enter if a family has an emergency. But the biggest problem, they claim, is having to pay bribes to get any construction done in the area. 'We've written to the MCD and MLAs… but nobody has helped,' says Kush Kumar, President of the C-3 block's RWA. For other issues, like water supply and garbage collection, tanks and trucks are brought in at personal cost, with the RWA collecting money based on the issue that crops up. 'The RWA is powerless (against the authorities),' says a local. 'What will they do?' But there are also stories of solidarity. Madanpur Khadar, another border village of Delhi, deals with many of the same issues. But Abdul Wari, public secretary of a local RWA, says the body bands together whenever government agencies fail to come through. He says, 'If garbage isn't collected on a day, there could be any number of reasons – maybe the truck's CNG tank didn't come, maybe the driver fell ill – but we have a WhatsApp group with residents and authorities. We send photos, they say it'll be taken care of.' 'Once, a resident wanted to bring a relative's corpse back from the hospital but the ambulance needed Rs 1,800,' he says. 'We got a letter signed by the committee, didn't ask for any donation, and used the money to help them out. We don't get any government funds but we keep a record of all that we collect. If someone isn't well, we try to help.'
Hans India
4 days ago
- Hans India
Boy drowned in pool: AAP blames MCD for negligence
New Delhi: The AAP on Sunday alleged that a six-year-old boy who drowned in a swimming pool in northwest Delhi's Pitampura died due to the negligence of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). There was no immediate response from the MCD. The boy drowned in the swimming pool of an MCD-run community a press conference, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the MCD Ankush Narang alleged that the boy's death was the 'result of gross negligence and administrative failure' on the part of the civic agency. No lifeguard was present at the time of the incident and the facility lacked both safety equipment and CCTV surveillance, he claimed. 'By the time a lifeguard was called and the child was pulled out, it was too late,' the AAP leader said. Narang said the silence of Mayor Raja Iqbal Singh and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on this incident is 'shameful' and demanded that accountability be fixed. He further said, 'This tragedy should have never occurred in the first place. But it happened under their watch. What steps have been taken to prevent such incidents in future? Has the MCD ensured installation of CCTV cameras, adherence to safety protocols and deployment of trained lifeguards across its facilities?'
Indian Express
4 days ago
- Indian Express
Delhi govt hands over Rs 2,388-crore pollution control project to PWD
After several delays, the Delhi government has decided to give charge of its road dust mitigation project to the Public Works Department (PWD). The 'pollution control and emergency measures' project was approved in a Cabinet meeting last month under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta. It was decided not to assign the task to the MCD at the time due to the absence of its Standing Committee. The panel has since been formed. The project is likely to cost Rs 2,388 crore over 10 years, according to the proposal. Officials said it is aimed at cleaning dust along carriageways, excluding cleaning footpaths and central verges. Under this project, the PWD will hire 250 water sprinkler machines fitted with anti-smog guns at an estimated cost of Rs 1,158 crore; 70 mechanical road sweeping (MRS) machines fitted with 210 water sprinklers; and water tankers and anti-smog guns to be hired at a cost of Rs 1,230 crore for seven years. One of these MRS machines was launched by the Chief Minister and Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Monday. According to officials, the Delhi government proposed the project in 2023 and handed over responsibility to the PWD. However, due to 'constitutional and statutory provisions regarding transfer of obligatory functions of MCD to PWD… a fresh Cabinet note was moved by the Environment Department to provide funds to MCD to execute the project, which included engagement of water sprinklers, anti-smog guns, mechanical road sweeping machines… The proposal was approved in November 2023,' said a senior official. The project faced a roadblock because funds for the MCD had to be given as a Grant-in-Aid, based on estimates raised by the civic body. The Finance Department advised creating a new budget head, as existing ones were only meant for inter-departmental transactions, said officials. Officials said they began work on this in consultation with the Finance Department and allocated Rs 9.921 crore for 2023-24 and Rs 100 crore for 2024-25 under the new head. However, since MCD did not raise any demand for the funds, they remained unutilised, said officials. 'The project has faced considerable delays… since there is no Standing Committee in the MCD, it may face even more delays. Given the importance of the project, the department has been directed to revise the Cabinet note to get the work executed by the PWD… The Environment Department presented the revised proposal in the last meeting to appoint PWD as the implementing agency…,' said officials.
