Jaipuria Mills

this is the Jaipuria textile mills near ghanta-ghar on g.t. road.
been abandoned for many years. it is possible to go inside the compound without much difficulty. the different buildings have been let out to different people mostly as godowns and small factories....


from the terrace you get a very different view of the surroundings. many areas have been abandoned as they were made for a specific task and are difficult to reuse. some of the labour that works here lives in some parts of the building.



has awesome brick construction. the quality of bricks and the workmanship in laying them are to die for. it would be difficult today to find bricks of this quality. even more difficult to find masons who could do such imaculate work.




a room without a roof.... and a arch on the floor!


one of the areas is used by a gum-arabic godown. the gum is imported in large chunks from nigeria. here they seperate different kinds and grind it further.... then it probably goes into our colas among other things....



the chimney. of no use today since the factory has shut down. there is an exhaust pipe (brick-vault) that leads to the bottom of the chimney.


completely empty from inside.... again really good quality bricks.


a flash for better visibility....


want to climb this fucker. got to climb it.

death of the food depot

this is an old building constructed by the british. was used last as the food testing depot for the indian army. basically testing that the food supplied to the soldiers is upto grade. apparently abandoned 8-10 years ago. near rajpur road.


the long use of this building has left very intense marks on the materials.



trees are growing on the roof while the roots dig in.



the outside is moving in. trees and plants have started occupying the leftover spaces.



alleged pilfering of building materials has left big gaps in places. the roof of one area has collapsed and a pepal tree has erupted from the floor. although well in its grave you can see signs of good construction and detailing. Huge metal and wood sections have been used with very well made joinery....



here you see a brick vault to make the roof. each vault ends in an I-section of considerable size.

empty Palace

the Palace theatre on roshanara road near pul-bangash. been closed for 6-7 years. the gate is open but a guard is around usually.


the waiting area inside has old plastic bucket seats... the walls are beautifully decaying.



rumour has it that pvr has bought it and, guess what, its is soon going to become another 150 rupees ahead multiplex.

disputed!

have had my eyes on this building for a long time. they call it CMS House. on the corner of barakhamba and tolstoy marg near cp.


its been standing empty and incomplete for over 25 years. first there was some labour dispute. right now NDMC is fighting a case against the owners.
been trying to get in touch with the owners. got to try harder.....


the complete structure is made of concrete. the formwork has left interesting imprints. some orphan steel bars stick out....
it is quite a good looking building i must admit. and quite clean for an unused building. it is guarded so it is difficult to get inside.

maybe they can make a multi-level parking if nothing else. make a ramp on one side to access the floors and a few hundred cars will be taken care of.

labour court, rajpur road

was taking a photo from the gate when a cop stepped in. it seems this used to be the high court. it was converted to the labour courts. vacated 7-8 years ago.
taking the cop's suggestion i jumped over the wall to check it out.


waiting area for visitors...


window seat.

Unguarded

this is a building on MG road. opposite the petrol pump at chatarpur.



this building is quite open to public. definitely a tresspass but no one here to stop me. the front columns have been broken so most of the front of the building has collapsed. or in the process of collapsing. unsafe if you ask a structural engineer....



the staircase inside stands intact... walk up to the terrace.
every where there are signs of commerce. mostly broken, shattered or decomposing... two undamaged walls of glass-brick. and lots of shattered glass.
the ceiling panels litter the floor. as also bricks.



a jungle of cobwebs. tampered digitally.




and more digital transformations....

Agricultural land??

So i wonder.....
If these plots were demolished because agricultural land was being used as commercial, then what has the Supreme Court achieved by "sealing"?

Can this plot be used for agriculture?

Another building on mehrauli-gurgaon road.....



They definitely stopped the unauthorised commercial use of this land. Its not possible to do much with this plot anymore. Is it?


So from Agricultural land it had become Commercial and now it is perhaps Redundant.

The Road of Abandonment

As a result of a Supreme Court ruling all commercial buildings/establishments on this stretch of the road (mehrauli-gurgaon road) were deemed illegal. Most of these commercial structures had been made in blatant disregard of land-use laws and the delhi master-plan. All these buildings sit on what is supposed to be "agricultural land". There was obvious collusion of the builders with the MCD, police and other regulatory authorities when the buildings were actually constructed.

So taking into consideration that these lands are not to be used for any purpose except agriculture, the court ordered the "sealing" of all such premises.

Second "sealed" building on the way from andheria mor to sultanpur...


Not only were the buildings "sealed" they were put "out-of-use". demolition crews worked hard to make the building uninhabitable.... with the support of a few truck-loads of police.



A dead dog by a dead building. Both have reached a point of no return. The building can only be demolished further or degrade due to disregard, just as the dog can only decompose or become part of garbage/food for scavengers.....
Most of the structures were "sealed" with such force that they can not possibly be used safely.

Blind Abandon

am starting this blog as a record of my interactions and interpretations of different abandoned and partly-demolished structures aound delhi.

most of us tend to disregard and ignore most such structures. they have become blindspots in the urban fabric. abandoned, discarded, disused, yet ever-present.

so as a start here are a few photos of the "sealed" buildings on mehrauli-gurgaon road.


the first abandoned building on the left as you move from andheria mor to sultanpur...


one side of the roof has collapsed. presumably struck down by an MCD bulldozer.



the tangle of reinforcement and rubble...