With no proper checks from the authorities, several chowks across Dwarka have been randomly named after important buildings in the vicinity like Sai chowk, ISKCON chowk and Carmel chowk.
It seems like naming a road or a chowk in Dwarka is anybody’s business. While earlier residential housing complexes took the liberty of naming the chowks in their names like KM chowk in Sector 11 after KM Apartments and Ashirwad chowk after Ashirwad Apartments in Sector 11. Now, it is the turn of religious groups and institutions to rename chowks after them.
So, we now have ISKCON chowk in Sector 13 near the ISKCON temple and Sai chowk in Sector 12, just to name a few.
At some places, there are even two or three different boards identifying a chowk’s name, like the crossing in Sector 22 is also named as Carmel Chowk (after Mount Carmel School) and DG (S) Chowk.
Rakesh Singh, a resident of Sector 12, said, “This has become the easiest way to advertise about anything these days. Just put a board with your name and add the word chowk to it. Not only is it illegal but it also creates a lot of confusion for the commuters.”
Residents allege that a few chowks have been renamed after freedom fighters without the authority’s permission. Neeraj Vashisht, a resident of Sector 1, said, “Few months back, we saw a board with the name Vikas Upadhyay (martyr) suddenly erected at the crossing of Sectors 1/2/7/6. We are not even sure if this has been done according to the rules or is just another trend.”
Residents say everyone from religious institutions and schools to NGOs is taking advantage of the situation. Apala Das, a resident of Sector 4 said, “Renaming of a place is done according to rules and regulations but here anyone is able to do it by just erecting a board.”
Meanwhile, DDA officials say that they have never named any chowk in Dwarka and all the boards with these random names coming up on DDA-owned land are completely illegal.
