Cobwebs in the Cellar

Stumbled upon this factory quite accidentally. Actually it was probably just a godown and distribution center for alcohol. A corner of the metal gate has been pushed in to allow for a trespass, and the rolling shutter is kept from closing by an old cooler.



It is quite empty inside. and undisturbed by the looks of the cobwebs.





The backyard though is another story. littlerally thousands of bottles are everywhere. all kinds of them, from the typical beer to hard liquor and even Desi ones that look like medicine bottles. Saw an old floral bottle of McDowell single malt. never even heard of it.



There are also different piles of broken glass. one brown, another green and one of clear glass. Surely a glass recyclers paradise.

End of an Era

This iconic Campa Cola factory, which lends its name to the area around it, will soon be history. The operations at the factory stopped in 2001 although Campa continues to be manufactured by franchisees in Haryana for the rural markets. A reputed builder has bought all the factories around here and has raised them to the ground and only rubble lies where the DCM complex once stood. The Campa Cola Factory, in perhaps as little as 2-3 weeks, will also be demolished.

Although the guards let us in to the compound but they told us the inside of the factory was off-limits- locked up, they claimed. There front wall is glazed and it must have been quite a sight from the road when the factory was still functioning. There is this really new looking, steel machine inside for making the cola. Apparently it was used only twice in the mid 80s when it was installed. Today no one wants to buy it for they are not sure if they will be able to put it back together once it is dismantled. The German company that made it has shut down.

Behind the factory on one side are thousands of empty bottles sitting in crates. Infact one truck is fully loaded with these although it doesn’t look like that truck has moved in years. On the other side are many ambassadors and tempos, presumably stuck in some legal hassles and sealed as moveable property.

The workers were quite sad at the impending demise of the factory. Some of them had spent there entire adult life working here and soon they will be left jobless and without much prospect for future employment.

Go check out this factory soon if you want to catch a glimpse before they raise it to the ground.

Cement Factory

If you ever climbed up onto the heap of garbage called the Okhla Landfill, you would see a concrete and steel behemoth. This is the CCI's cement factory. or rather it was. today the factory grounds are used to store empty containers. there is a huge container depot (inland port) just behind it.


i didnt want to encounter any guards so i took a roundabout way through piles of garbage and undergrowth and squeezed through a barbed wire fence to get in from behind. there are huge conveyor belts everywhere. some for feeding the raw materials onto the top of the concrete cylinder and others for taking out the finished product.



Inside the cylinder at the bottom most level.... Its incredibly dusty. some footprints in the undisturbed layers of dust. and many paw-prints of dogs. In one corner there is a limping chair, probably acquired from the sarkari office next door. and a few empty bottles of cheap whisky.



Most of the conveyor belts and stairs have been elaborately fenced off with barbed wire. i found one that led all the way up that was not. i could see a few guards and truck drivers below as i climbed up. they didnt see me though. i was too unexpected to be noticed. no one looks up i guess.



Incredible wind on the top. full of cement dust and the fine decomposed garbage and smoke that flies off the landfill. all the corrugated metal sheets have come loose and rattle constantly in the wind. kilos and kilos of pigeon shit. some places have over 12 inches of it.

Wasted

One day I took a couple of foreign artists to look at the Okhla Landfill. They were doing an eco-art residency and wanted to know what happens to the garbage in delhi. We checked out a bunch of rag-pickers, very fascinating people from a firangi perspective.... they recycle you know. something we indians are quite irresponsible about unless it is some toxic waste shipped from the North+West.



Well this does not really fit into abandoned buildings per se..... it deals with waste. and an abandoned people and the profession of retrieval from decay.



Here we can see the act of dumping and retrieval happening simultaneously. The kabaadiwalahs queue up as the garbage trucks unload....




The waste is covered up with a layer of earth before new garbage is added. All kinds of gasses build up in this mixture. Some are inflamable and and many are poisonous. Infact the garbage is set on fire so as to increase decomposition.



And believe it or not, some of them actually camp out on top of this rubbish heap. The Okhla Landfill is one of 3 major landfills of delhi. All 3 are currently filling up beyond capacity. And there are more landfills that are being put into our holy master-plan.



Those sacks are full of recyclable stuff being handpicked and taken away. In a small way the kabaadiwalahs are decreasing the amount of trash that gets dumped everyday. And nobody knows or cares about the health hazards. nor are they encouraged in this eco-friendly activity. infact there is a huge mafia here in conjunction with the sarkari officials.