blindspot

more undisturbed demise

2008-05-28T23:10:00.000-07:00

the encounter with death made me look more closely at other instances. found 2 more carcases in the same building. this puppy has been dead for much longer. on another staircase...

another dead dog lying on the 11 th floor.....

this made me reassess other deaths i had seen on my earlier explorations. death has a peculiar face when it has been undisturbed by humans. this puppy looks like it has been runover by a road-roller. but i found it in a cement factory lying undisturbed in a corner. there are many dogs living in this factory.

a recently dead dog on MG road in front of the demolished buildings. runover by a car perhaps...

there were pigeon nest on a ledge above this. but apparently not very safe as this broken egg bears testament...

death on the 9th floor

2008-05-28T22:50:00.000-07:00

when i first went to the building on barakhamba i was surprised by 2 dogs on the terrace. the dogs were as surprised as me and quickly disappered down the stairs.
the next time i went there about 2 weeks later the 2 dogs were lying dead on the staircase!

Dont know much about death but it looks like a violent one. perhaps poisoning. looks like the dogs puked out blood in their last moments. they were lying half a flight from eachother on the 9th floor. perhaps trying to make their way down in desperation.

as they are lying in the shade, the decomposition has been rather slow. no birds of prey seemed to have reached here. 3 weeks later the bones are showing through....

and the maggots and beatles.... look at the center-bottom.

13th floor

2008-05-09T04:04:00.000-07:00

this building on barakhamba road next to CP has been lying vacant for many years. at the back of the building there is a service lane with parking for the office going crowd of the adjacent buildings. next to the garbage dump the wall is broken and provides easy access to the building.

the ground floor of the building is used by the poorer crowd as a toilet. especially one room which is full of dry shit. there are 2 staircases that lead to the top of the building 13 floors up.

the terrace has grass growing everywhere. and even 2 trees.

all usable or recyclable items have been removed from the building leaving scars everywhere.

there is a police station at the back and in the adjacent yard there are a bunch of vehicles that have been confiscated by the cops.

edible oil refinery

2008-05-09T03:29:00.000-07:00

across a low boundary we saw a tangle of steel lying in a large maidan full of rubble. guards were not happy to see us. not allowed at all, they said. we ignored them. as soon as they saw me peer through the viewfinder the guards attacked us with renewed vigor. NOT ALLOWED without permission. and who should we get permission from? they were vague so we walked around. it was going to be broken down soon they explained. it was a refinery for edible oil. the rest of the factory had been demolished and this is the last part left. they are going to subdivide the land and sell smaller plots.

when they realised that they were not going to get rid of us like this, they gave us a number to call for permission. we explained the research nature of our exploration. the person on the phone listened and said not allowed but we insisted and he finally gave in. so that was that.

there are many floors and subloors with all kinds of electric and rotatory machines. the metal structure is strong enough for some exploration though it is rusted and rutted to the extreme. many different stairs and passages connect the different levels.

Two huge rotatory cylinders presumably used for crushing or squeezing out the oil. dont know much about refineries....

Lots of glass wool insulation everywhere. it is coming off in many places and looks almost luxurious in texture. extremely dangerous though! the needles blowing in the wind can cause acute breathing and skin problems.

2008-05-09T03:10:00.000-07:00

sahibabad is one of the older industrial areas on the outskirts of delhi. on an exploration trip we saw a large unkempt shed and the gate was open. inside there were 2 workers sleeping on charpai. we slunk away into the back of the factory.

two large connected sheds. empty except for a few monkeys and a few stacks of newspaper.

In the front, in a servant's quarters of sorts, a door was ajar and another man sat inside. we briefly noticed eachother and both choose to ignore the others presence. was a strange moment.

generator.

Cobwebs in the Cellar

2008-04-30T23:45:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-29T23:57:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-12T06:32:00.000-07:00

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

2008-04-12T05:42:00.000-07:00

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.

Jaipuria Mills

2007-12-11T06:32:00.001-08:00

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

2007-12-11T06:16:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-11T06:08:00.001-08:00

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!

2007-12-11T05:54:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-09T05:55:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-06T22:19:00.001-08:00

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??

2007-12-05T03:35:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-05T02:52:00.000-08:00

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

2007-12-05T02:11:00.000-08:00

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...