Sarson ke khet sightings in popular culture

First a sarson ke khet sightings in pop media:



This is an ad(/public service announcement) for a serial on some TV channel known as "Star Gold". Note the sarson ke khet flowing in the breeze behind the girl - symbolizing her simplicity, purity and good old traditional Punjabi values! Note her longing but weary gaze at the airplane that brings her NRI groom and her passport to happiness! Note the airplane tearing the red wedding cloth into two, symbolizing the troubles ahead with obtaining that happiness passport! Too good!


And on a more political note, a sarson ke khet sighting in the news media, and on the Indo-Pak border no less! Or at least I'm assuming it's the Indo-Pak border (on which other border will you find sarsok ke khet leheraofying anyway?). Also note that the sarson ke khet seem to be on both sides of the border! I wonder on which side the mustard is greener (answer - NEITHER/BOTH)!


(TOI May 25th)

Spice sellers at Pul Banagah

More from my Delhi Anonymous set of photos ...

Jumping the Gun on Delhi's Light Rail and Monorail Plans

Following up on the Delhi Metro Phase 3 map I made a while ago (and also various metro maps using Google Maps), I've made another map - also on Google Maps - that incorporates planned Light Rail and Monorail projects as well. Click on the image below to go to the map.



The impetus for this map was the Delhi Chief Minister's recent declaration that monorail plans (and presumably light rail plans though the news reports did not mention her talking about light rail) have not been canceled but rather postponed till after the Commonwealth Games. I remembered seeing maps of proposed Light Rail and Monorail routes on the DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System) website, and used those to make the map above.

If anything, these light rail/monorail routes are even more speculative than the metro phase 3 maps in this and previous maps, but this map is a possible representation of what Delhi's multi-modal urban rail system might look like by 2015.

A couple of observations regarding Delhi's infrastructure projects in general and the proposed rail routes/systems:

By this point, it looks like the October 2010 Commonwealth Games are holding up as many infrastructure projects as they are instigating. I believe a while ago the CM said that major road-improvement projects have been shelved till after the games, and now these urban rail projects have as well, and I'm sure a whole set of other projects must have been shelved too. I guess it's really good that the games have provided the impetus for the projects that have been built and are under construction, but I'm now waiting for those projects to become up-and-running, as well as for the games to be over and done with, so we can concentrate on these further infrastructural projects. Hopefully the momentum of construction and development will not slow down after the games, because the city really needs a lot of work!

My other observation is about monorail vs light rail vs BRT (bus rapid transit) as the "light transit" supplement to metro. I'm becoming more and more skeptical about BRT, because there are so many vehicles on the roads in Delhi, and traffic is so undisciplined, that the roads really cannot support a rapid bus system, and people cannot realistically be expected to change their driving behavior anytime soon. Delhi needs three lanes for traffic, and for sure the roads need to be improved, standardized and the private bus system overhauled as is being done, but the BRT system just takes up too much space on already crowded roads.

What we need instead is a completely grade-separated light transit system that is totally removed from the road system, and can penetrate many parts of the city. To accomplish this, I think the only way to go is elevated. And for this reason, I think monorail might be an even better option than light rail. Monorail becomes advantageous over light rail only if the entire system is elevated, at which time it's smaller footprint both on the ground and visually in the air, as well as possibly greater maneuverability, make it appealing. So instead of a BRT system, another option is to concentrate on a monorail system criss-crossing the city. That will leave the roads free for improving the situation for public transport, private transport as well as for pedestrians.

Of course I'm not an expert on any kind of monorail vs light rail debate, but I feel that light rail (as well as BRT systems) work better when roads are emptier and space (for at-grade interchange etc) is more abundant than in Delhi. At the same time, Delhi roads are not as narrow as those of a city like London, making it possible to devise a good functional bus system that is not BRT. A widespread monorail system will free up the roads for improvement, whereas BRT will narrow the roads unnecessarily. These are just my views as of now, and they might change in light of more information, but this is MHO for now!

Barapullah Elevated Road and Khan Khana's Tomb

A short note to follow up on my post about construction work for the elevated road around the Barapullah bridge, in which my concluding remarks were that the separate governmental authorities need to really work together cohesively in Delhi to accommodate both conservation and development, and use Delhi's historic architecture as a unique facet of the city. Unfortunately, it looks like another section of the elevated road construction may indicate that examples of such collaboration are pretty hard to come by.

I'm talking about the stretch of the elevated road that passes in front of Khan Khana's Tomb, also in the Nizamuddin area. Khan Khana was one of the Navratans in Akbar's court, and is the same person as the poet Rahim of 2-line dohas fame.

Khan Khana's tomb hidden behind the under-construction pillars of the Barapullah Nullah elevated road


News articles from previous months state that part of the ASI's objection to the elevated road was that it will obstruct the view of Khan Khana's tomb from the adjacent Mathura Road. Due to this objection, the height of the elevated road was to be raised at this point, so that it passed over the view-line of the tomb from Mathura Road. So far, so good.

Unfortunately, it turns out that the under-construction pillars for the elevated road that lie to the east of Mathura Road, the side that the tomb is on, are right adjacent to Mathura Road, and block the view to the monument anyway. So despite the raised road height, the pillars themselves will obstruct the view of the tomb.

A closer view of the tomb and pillars. The billboard also blocks the view to the tomb, but that's a minor issue compared to the obstruction the pillars will cause


It could be argued that the proximity of the pillars to the road was required to span the road, but much larger spans are being bridged on this road itself, so the special situation of this location should definitely have warranted the extra expense of a larger span. On top of this, the pillar to the west of Mathura Road is pretty far from the road, for no apparent reason (see the panoramic photo below).

Panoramic view of the elevated road construction over Mathura Road. The pillars to the left (west) of the road are set back from Mathura Road when they needn't be, and the pillars to the right (east), which should have been set back from Mathura Road to maintain a clear view of Khan Khana's tomb (which is in the center background) from the road, aren't. Sad irony that is all too common here in Delhi (click image to enlarge)


Of course factors such as foundational needs could have dictated the placement of these pillars, but it seems really odd that the pillars east of Mathura Road couldn't have been shifted a few meters further east, thus not negating the effect that raising the elevated road is to accomplish.

To me, this seems to be just another example of bad, non-creative planning and lack of coordination.

Nila Gumbad in the News (too)

Since I wrote about Nila Gumbad and the dispute between the Railways and ASI in my previous blog post, I thought I'd go visit Nila Gumbad once again to see just what the situation was there, how close the railways line was to the monument etc. I've visited Nila Gumbad a few times before, but had always just seen it from the west - from the side of Humayun's Tomb.

The image below shows Nila Gumbad and the area around it, taken from close to the eastern pavilion that lies along the outer wall of Humayun's Tomb. The road that the ASI wants to reroute around Nila Gumbad currently passes between the monument and Humayun's Tomb. It's also very probable that in constructing the road, the arched wall connecting Nila Gumbad with Humayun's Tomb was broken, which the ASI probably wants to restore as well.

Nila Gumbad from Humayun's Tomb. The railway line is visible behind the gumbad, and the road that the ASI wants to reroute lies in front of the gumbad



On this visit I went around to the east of the monument, on the side of the railway line, and was quite shocked to see that the Nizamuddin railway station starts right next to the monument! So it's not just that the railway line passes very close to Nila Gumbad, but the railway station also begins right there. An approximately 5 meter wide area has been left around the monument, and then the railway property beings. The station and railway lines lie to the east of the monument, and there is some kind of railway storage area to the south of it. The panoramic shot below is taken from north of the monument, and shows the proximity of the station, railway line and monument.

Panoramic view showing the railway station and gumbad . Click to enlarge



As can be seen from the panoramic shot, a dirt path leads from in front (north) of the monument, which leads to a spot that is used as an informal crossing across the railway lines to the other side, i.e. towards Serai Kale Khan. I saw quite a few people using this path to cross the railway lines (there is no designated crossing on this side of the railways station). There is of course the issue of security vis-a-vis the railway station, since anyone can easily walk from here onto the platform.

But the closeness of the station really makes me see the railways point of view. There is hardly any space to construct a road around the monument on this side, and any changes to the railways station and storage area will require at least a bit of a re-think and re-design, though if they put their heads to it I'm sure they can get to a workaround (pun intended).

The board indicating the beginning of Nizamuddin railway station is clearly visible from the gumbad platform


A couple of shots of Nila Gumbad - showing the blue tile-work that give the monument it's name and make it unique

Barapullah In The News

An image of Barapullah I took sometime in 2009, showing its basic design and construction (and the ganda nala - dirty drain - flowing under it)


Barapullah is an early 17th century bridge close to Humayun's Tomb and Khan Khana's Tomb in the Nizamuddin area. The monument has been in the news recently as part of the ongoing tussle between the ASI (Archaeological Survey of India) in Delhi on one side, and various other governmental bodies (such as the railways, Delhi metro, MCD, Commonwealth Games people etc) on the other, playing out an intra-government-department preservation-versus-development urban slug-fest. This fight has been brought to a head by the ongoing rush of infrastructural projects in Delhi in general, and Commonwealth Games related projects in particular.

As Delhi scrambles to complete these infrastructure projects before the October 2010 Commonwealth Games, the ASI is attempting to block those projects that come too close to the monuments under its protection (apparently no construction within 100 meters of a protected monument is allowed - a rule that obviously hasn't been followed too strictly for the past five decades since it's been in place).

The Barapullah Nala (drain/rivulet), which the Barapullah bridge spans at Nizamuddin and which snakes through part of south Delhi, is being used as a path for an elevated road that will connect the Ring Road near Serai Kale Khan with Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, and is intended to ease traffic flow between the stadium and the Commonwealth Games Village on the east bank of the Yamuna. Some of the pillars being erected for this elevated road are just about 10 meters away from Barapullah.

So the Barapullah example is being publicized in the media as the most egregious case of flouting the "no construction around monuments" rule. While this is definitely the case, I just wanted to bring to light the existing state of the Barapullah monument, current elevated road construction notwithstanding. Newspaper reports give the impression that Barapullah was a well-preserved monument, or at least a somewhat-preserved one, whose protected space is only now being violated by the elevated bridge construction. In reality Barapullah has been anything but well protected over the past decades. In fact, Barapullah is a unique example that indicates all that is wrong with the preservation process.

The first problem of course is that the nala which flows under the bridge has been an open sewer for a long time. However, what makes the current concern over the new elevated road construction so ironic is that a concrete bridge, parallel to Barapullah, has existed about 3 meters away from Barapullah for at least a couple of decades. I have a vague memory of using Barapullah itself as a thoroughfare road to cross over from Jangpura to Nizamuddin as a kid, but the parallel concrete bridge has existed for all my adult life. This parallel bridge is now used for heavy throughfare (it leads to the close-by Nizamuddin railway station and in fact a blue-line bus route terminates here), and Barapullah itself is the site for a makeshift daily market. The parallel bridge was probably constructed to divert vehicular traffic from Barapullah, but surely it needn't have been built just 3 meters away from it.

The approach to Barapullah, on which a makeshift market is now set up daily. This and all following images were taken on Jan 25, 2010


The decades old concrete bridge running parallel to Barapullah is visible behind the small turrets of Barapullah, and is just a few feet away from it



The images below clearly shows the proximity between the original Barapullah and the parallel concrete bridge. We can also see the sewage and garbage accumulated at the foot of Barapullah, as well as the high-tension electricity pylon built very close to Barapullah. The columns under construction in the central middle-distance are for the proposed elevated road. The main north-south line of the Indian railways passes close to Barapullah as well. All in all, not a very picturesque locale, to say the least, and with all kinds of preservation-law violations all around.

Parallel concrete bridge and Barapullah




Barapullah from the parallel bridge


Vendors on Barapullah with the under-construction elevated road's columns behind


I would estimate the closest column of the elevated road to be about 10 meters from Barapullah, while the existing parallel bridge is about 3 meters distant from Barapullah


Elevated road construction with Barapullah behind


A panoramic view of Barapullah, its parallel bridge and the elevated road construction. In the background on the right we can see the base of the roadway itself being set up over the completed columns. On the left, through the steel-mesh fencing, is visible the other side of the elevated road construction. Click to enlarge


The elevated road construction approaching Barapullah. The main north-south line of the Indian railways lies in front of it. This view is looking eastwards towards the Yamuna from Barapullah


Here are a couple of images of construction on the other side ... looking westwards, taken from the parallel bridge. The dome of Khan Khana's Tomb is visible in the background.





What does all this tell us?

As we can see, the setting of Barapullah is a real mess. It has a heavily trafficked parallel bridge mere feet away from it, a large electricity pylon close by, an open sewer passing under it, a major national railway line passing close by, and is used as a makeshift market space. It has no protected area around it, and is surrounded by garbage and dirt. The elevated road being constructed over it, with its columns a few meters away from Barapullah, will not so much ruin the setting of Barapullah as add to the misfortunes of the monument.

Barapullah is a unique example, because it has various factors acting against it. Usually with monuments in Delhi it is a simple case of real estate pressures that threaten them. If the government/ASI can acquire the land around the monument to preserve it, as in the case of Humayun's Tomb and Khan Khana's Tomb nearby, the monuments can begin to be protected, and if they can't get to the monuments in time, like in so many urban villages in Delhi, the monuments are encroached upon or right up to.

Being a bridge that spans a nala running through a major portion of south Delhi, Barapullah was never going to be encroached in that same way, but rather was going to be targeted by infrastructural entities that require a clear path through the city, like the high tension electricity pylons and now the elevated road. Being close to the Nizamuddin railway station, there was heavy traffic on Barapullah in the past, which is now diverted to the parallel bridge built next to it. Being on an open drain (once a tributary of the Yamuna on which temple ghats existed - and still do), there is always going to be untreated sewage lapping the base of the monument.

To me, the Barapullah situation encapsulates the dysfunction of our government (and of us). The slums and squatter settlements around the monument, which exist in the liminal space along the open drain and railway line, are a function of the lack of public housing, and are the reason why the makeshift market exists on the monument (though the market also serves the residential neighborhoods away from the immediate vicinity of the monument).

Apathy towards historic monuments and good planning practices in general, and apathy towards generating creative solutions to urban problems has led to the parallel road next to Barapullah, and the traffic mess in the area overall, created by the busy Nizamuddin railway station nearby. The railway station, which continues to grow in importance, has for long needed an efficient traffic scheme that also caters to the protection of Barapullah, but the various government bodies that are required to be involved for such a scheme to succeed seem unable to collaborate to design and implement it.

In the face of all this apathy, finding alternative and natural solutions to wastewater management, which these open drains in Delhi would seem ideally suited for, remains a pipe dream, which is the reason why the black water flowing under Barapullah continues to ooze by freely, adding to the vast sewer that is the Yamuna.


Where does the recent news-coverage fit into all this?

Apart from the fact that the newspapers should send someone down to check on the situation of Barapullah before indicating that the new elevated road is violating the space around it, the reporting on the feud between the ASI and other government bodies points to just why so much dysfunction occurs. The fact that the ASI has not been able to coordinate in the construction of the elevated road indicates the lack of collaboration and creative solution finding that has led to the construction of the parallel bridge next to Barapullah, and the traffic mess around the Nizamuddin railway station.

Another nearby example - the Nila Gumbad monument - also in the news recently, points to the same lack of collaboration and indeed blatant antagonism between government departments. This monument lies on the strip of land between the Humayun's Tomb compound and the same railway line that passes close to Barapullah. Humayun's Tomb is a World Heritage site, and the ASI wants to incorporate the Nila Gumbad monument, which is also a Mughal-era structure and an important example of Persian influence on Mughal architecture, into the overall Humayun's Tomb complex. To do this, they requested the railways to allow a narrow road that cuts through the space between Nila Gumbad and Humayun's Tomb to be re-routed around Nila Gumbad, and onto railway land. The railways of course have refused this request.

The recent news coverage has exposed not just current feuds between such government departments, but also shows us how such apathy and dysfunction have existed for so long. No one wants to help the other, and no one wants the trouble of getting to creative, collaborative and long-lasting solutions to problems. If I'm permitted to extend this argument, this is the case not just with the government, but with the attitude of the public as well.


Are there any signs of hope in all this?

I actually think that there might be hope in all this. The fact that long-dormant ASI rules are being brought up might indicate that there is enough (developmental, infrastructural) activity at an urban scale, and adequate media and public scrutiny being placed on that activity, to force governmental departments to make their disputes public and legal.

Hopefully, as large-scale infrastructure projects mushroom in Delhi, adequate public scrutiny will emerge, not just at the implementation stage but also at the planning stage.

In a place as rich in history and historical monuments as Delhi, the preservation and protection of such monuments will always be of prime importance, but a balance will have to be maintained between development and preservation. For example, it shouldn't be too hard for urban design and planning professionals to come up with a solution to the Barapullah situation that addresses the needs of connectivity and traffic around Nizamuddin railway station, the elevated road project, the nearby railway line, wastewater management and electricity distribution, while at the same time helping to protect and promote the Barapullah monument. All that is needed is for the actors (both governmental as well as private citizens) involved in preservation as well as development to work together in finding innovative solutions.

Easier said than done, but up to this stage of Delhi's recent history, neither preservation nor development have taken place to anything approaching a satisfactory degree. The few preservation successes that do exist in Delhi point to the fact that when there is a will to do it right, it's possible even here.

More Delhi Metro Maps

I made a few more maps of Delhi Metro routes on google maps. The first is of already active routes. The stations are already marked on the actual map itself - my map then just marks out the actual routes of the lines ... or lines of the routes, whichever way you understand it!

The second map includes Phase 2 routes currently under construction. The good thing about these google maps is that I can update them as more lines become operational.

The third is my speculative map of possible Phase 3 routes. My previous post about Phase 3 plans explains the speculative origins of this map (click here to go to that post), though a recent article in the Hindustan Times also supports these speculations. Again with this map I can keep updating the routes as we get to know more about them.
















I couldn't link anymore to the Hindustan Times article, but here's the map from that article.

Delhi Metro vs The World!

While working on these previous Delhi Metro posts, I began to wonder how the metro compared with other systems around the world, and found a few pretty interesting resources that I thought I should share.

It turns out that a whole lot of cities (far more than I had previously thought, for example who knew Tehran had such an extensive system!) have some sort of metro system, and there are cities with systems growing much more rapidly than Delhi's (see Beijing and Shanghai), and with much more "modern" - or at least more glitzy - infrastructure (apart from those two Chinese examples also see Madrid). Not that this necessarily reflects badly on Delhi Metro - maybe it's just that their objectives are different to those of other systems.

All these expanding systems have matched or will soon match, and in some cases will soon supersede (in length and ridership) the existing "superstars" of metro systems such as the Tokyo, New York, London, Paris, Moscow, Hong Kong, Seoul and Mexico City systems.

Apart from the pages on individual metro systems linked to above, wikipedia also has some interesting lists such as:

List of metro systems and Metro systems by annual passenger rides.

Treehugger also has some fun stuff, such as slideshows of The world's 7 greatest subways, The world's most impressive subway maps, and subway systems from around the world drawn at the same scale (including Delhi Metro!).

And I couldn't not include this great slideshow of the World's best alternative subway maps!

There are a ton of other resources available online (and offline), but these are what I came across in the past few days!

Jumping the Gun on Delhi Metro's Phase III Plans

Caveats for this post:
a) The whole thing is completely speculative.
b) If you aren't familiar with Delhi and the Delhi Metro system, this won't make any sense to you at all, and will probably bore you to death.
c) It's all about maps and planned metro routes and other such geeky things.
d) The whole thing is completely speculative.

Okay, so with all those caveats, here goes!

The DPR (Detailed Project Report) for Phase III construction of Delhi Metro is in the works, and a lot of articles are being written about what Phase III is going to look like, where all its going to reach, how long its going to be (in terms of length of tracks), whether they're going to start construction before or after Phase II is complete etc etc (Phase II is scheduled to be completely operational by Sept 2010 except, I believe, for one small bit).

In terms of the areas that metro is going to reach in Phase III, most reports are basing their stories on the routes indicated on this map (not on that particular map per se, but on the routes it indicates), which in turn are probably based on this map which is by the metro people but more complicated.

The simpler map from the website above (this map shows both Phase III & IV extensions but for this post we're interested in just Phase III)



However, I've read one recent article that has a different take, which looked much more interesting to me in terms of the routes drawn out as well as the fact that the report is not based on a map generated many years ago when Phase III was purely speculative. However, the map accompanying the article has routes marked out in a very rough manner.

The "newer" though very rough map



So I thought I'd make a more accurate map of the new possible routes mentioned in the article. However, since only a few of the stations along the proposed routes are given in the article, the map I've drawn contains a whole lot of speculation on my part. This means my map below is speculation over speculation, so it might bear no resemblance whatsoever with the actual Phase III routes when they are finally made public! That said, it was a lot of fun making the map, so I'm putting it up anyway!

Note: The black lines on my map are Phase I & II lines (with stations indicated by black boxes), which are either already functional or will be functional by the end of 2010. The blue lines are new Phase III routes.

My absolutely speculative Delhi Metro Phase III layout. Click to enlarge

(Click here for a post about some google maps I made of Delhi Metro routes, including another version of the map above)

Note: The established (black) lines probably have a few errors, for instance I've shown the New Delhi Railway Station to Delhi Airport line as going through Rajiv Chowk, when in actuality there is a whole new station being built for it at Shivaji Stadium nearby.

Okay, now that I've put up that completely speculative map, let me freely analyze the completely speculative routes! Here goes. So if this plan is correct, it really shows to me that these metro guys are using their brains when coming up with their routes. Looking at the map, set aside for a minute the obvious routes needed along the inner and outer ring roads, and take the shorter routes being considered from Central Secretariat to Kashmiri Gate, and New Delhi Railway Station to Ashok Park.

I'm assuming that the Central Secretariat to Kashmiri Gate route will be a continuation of the Phase II "Violet" line from Badarpur Border to Central Secretariat. The current Yellow Line from Rajiv Chowk to Kashmiri Gate (both of which are interchange stations) is one of the most crowded spans of the metro, and this will give a second route through the area, in the process giving metro access to Delhi Gate, Daryaganj, Jami Masjid and Red Fort, and possibly also the Firoz Shah Kotla cricket ground (is the ITO junction too much to hope for?). This will also move some of the present congestion of Rajiv Chowk onto the comparatively empty Barakhamba Road station, and divert new traffic coming to Rajiv Chowk via the Yellow Line from Gurgaon to the Central Secretariat station. The Kashmiri Gate station will get more crowded though, and I'm not sure what the plan is for that!

The second line I mentioned above, between New Delhi Railway Station and Ashok Park will presumably be an extension of the Green Line, and will connect to the Serai Rohilla Railway Station (thus all four of Delhi's major railway stations will have metro links - the Nizamuddin station is also scheduled to have a metro station in Phase III), along with a station or two in the Pahar Ganj area and few on Rohtak Road.

When it comes to the ring road routes, the metro people haven't decided to just complete one ring first and then start the next, but are taking on bits of both rings simultaneously, so as to get them running where they are needed most, and making it easier to get future extension plans on these rings approved (hehe!). So south Delhi, which will have just two metro lines passing through it by 2010, will get connected by both ring road routes by 2015, and all four lines running through west Delhi will gain a connection between them.

Pretty clever! Too bad it's all completely speculative. Now to wait and see what metro is really planning to do for Phase III!

On and Around the Delhi Metro

This blog was originally supposed to be titled A Day on the Delhi Metro, but since it took me two days to travel the entire length of the metro system (because I got off at a lot of stations and explored the areas around), and since the photographs here include two more subsequent visits to the metro and it's surroundings, I couldn't use that title. :)

In any case, my aim was not just to travel the entire system (though that would have been a fun little project on it's own), but also to explore how the metro interacted with the city, what parts of the city it reached, and to try and ascertain whether and how the metro is changing and shaping the city. Till this trip I had never been to most of the places in north, west and east Delhi that metro traveled to (my earlier forays into those parts of the city were mostly restricted to areas around the Inner Ring Road). Come to think of it, metro hasn't been extended yet into south Delhi, which means that my experience of the metro system till this trip had been limited to a few stations in central Delhi!

Delhi Metro is still a nascent system in many ways. It began operating in 2002, and most of the routes that have been opened till now (3 lines in total) are from Phase I of it's construction, which was completed in 2005, covering some 65km (the first line began functioning in 2002 before Phase I was completed). Phase II is scheduled for completion by 2010, though some of the line extensions from Phase II are already in operation. In fact, in just a few days (sometime in mid-November 2009) the first major line extension of Phase II (connecting Yamuna Bank with Noida) will open, with other major line extensions and three entirely new lines opening between then and September 2010, all in time for the October 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi. Phase II will add about 120km to the existing system. Subsequently, Phase III will begin construction and is scheduled for completion by 2015, adding another 100km or so.

Note: I had to obtain permission from metro's (DMRC) head office to take photographs inside the two stations that are shown here. Usually photography in the stations and on the lines of metro is not permitted. The other photographs I've taken for this post are from outside the metro system. It would have been really nice to take photos of the city from the elevated metro tracks, but since this is not permitted I didn't take any.

Another note: Instead of endlessly repeating "the metro" in this post, I've often just written "metro" as a noun to denote Delhi's Metro.

I've realized that riding on the elevated sections of metro is a great way to get a feel of the city. One is usually traveling at roof height, so wide vistas of the urban landscape around are visible. The relative low density of construction in Delhi has made it possible to construct a largely elevated metro system, as opposed to the kind of underground system found in other cities. Some people complain about this, saying that the elevated tracks spoil the "look" of the neighborhoods they goes through and the city as a whole, but I say what looks are you talking about but I think that the city and its people will adapt to this. Just as roads are not considered eyesores anymore, neither will the elevated metro system.

So with all that, here is my gallivanting-through-the-entire-metro-system story. I've actually collapsed my two days (and two additional short forays) into one narrative, therefore the description is not chronological as per the order that I visited the particular stations/areas. Instead the narrative is now sequenced geographically, i.e. by which station comes first on a particular route etc. Hopefully this won't take away from the story.

Click on images to enlarge.


Start at Pragati Maidan

I began at the Pragati Maidan station, which is my "home base" for now. From next year onwards the under-construction Jangpura station on Phase II's "Violet" Line will become much nearer. Pragati Maidan is Delhi's main exhibitions ground, which is partly what this station serves.

Pragati Maidan station



Rajiv Chowk

I got permission from Delhi Metro headquarters to photograph the Rajiv Chowk and Karol Bagh stations. I visited the stations on a Sunday morning, which is the reason for the lack of crowds at Rajiv Chowk.

A bit of overheard-on-metro trivia: Since Connaught Place was officially renamed Rajiv Chowk (sometime in the 1990s), successive (Congress) governments have been futilely striving for the name change to take hold in public imagination. A few weeks ago on the metro I overheard a conversation about how metro has succeeded in popularizing the new name, since the Rajiv Chowk station has been called as such since its inception, so more and more Delhiites are getting accustomed to the name.

Rajiv Chowk station




Waiting for the Blue Line early on Sunday morning



The next three images depict the break-down of passenger queues waiting to get onto trains. The queue is quite intact while passengers wait for a train, and even as the train comes into the station. But once the train stops, the queue soon disintegrates into a much more familiar blob crowding the action (in this case the sliding doors). And this is during completely off-hours when there is no question of trains being too overcrowded to get in. Vying for a place to sit is what this crowding is for!

Queue intact while waiting for train


Queue holds as train zooms in


Queue, what queue?



Stairs connecting Blue Line platforms (above) to Yellow Line platforms (below), and the walkway over the Blue Line tracks


Waiting for the Yellow Line




Streamlined art deco-ish assistance booth


Train coming into a Yellow Line platform


Metro entrance at Connaught Place (sorry, above ground it's still Connaught Place, not Rajiv Chowk!)



Karol Bagh

A few stations away from Rajiv Chowk on the Blue Line is the elevated Karol Bagh station. This section of metro has some fascinating mid-20th c. houses lining the street that the tracks are elevated over (i.e. Pusa Road). Elevated stations in different parts of the metro system have different looks and feels, and I wish I could have taken photos on a few more stations to get a comparison. But you can get a basic idea with these Karol Bagh images.

Karol Bagh station







Houses near the metro line







Station architecture and engineering











These stations are designed to allow a 6-lane road to pass underneath







Rajouri Garden

Rajouri Garden station is higher than usual to allow for the metro tracks to span over the nearby Inner Ring Road flyover.

Rajouri Garden station






Metro track spanning over Ring Road flyover



The trend is to take the metro close to existing commercial areas, and create new commercial areas near existing metro stations. Metro authorities are encouraging this via commercial real-estate development on and around metro property. It is quite likely that stretches of the city along the metro tracks will become more and more commercial with time, and residential areas will recede a little away from the tracks.

Shopping mall near Rajouri Garden station



Tilak Nagar

This is an example of the metro cutting through a crowded part of the city. Note the older elevated road running parallel to the metro line (visible in the second image).

Tilak Nagar station





Janakpuri

I had never really been to Janakpuri before, and got to see the Janakpuri Business Center for the first time, which the metro line now runs next to.

Metro track running next to Janakpuri CBD









New commercial construction near Janakpuri West station





Janakpuri District Center - offices and retail





Dwarka

Dwarka is a relatively new development at the edge of present day Delhi, but metro gets to it already. The newness of Dwarka is indicated by the vast empty spaces around the stations. Again, I assume these spaces have been earmarked for future commercial development, while apartment complexes (visible in the background in the first photo) are located at a distance away from stations.

Dwarka Sector 9 station






The other side of Sector 9 station





Apartments close to metro tracks




Commercial development underway close to stations



We've heard of NIMBY, but PIMBY (Please In My BackYard), really? (The sign reads "Metro View Apartments")



Chawdi Bazaar

Dwarka is at the western end of the Blue Line, so I got back to Rajiv Chowk and took the Yellow Line north towards Jahangirpuri. The Yellow Line famously goes below Old Delhi, and has made taking one's car into always-crowded Old Delhi unfashionable. The underground station at Chawdi Bazaar (Hauz Qazi Chowk) probably has the most glaring new-world/old-world difference between the metro system and the outside world that it services.

Entrance to Chawdi Bazaar station


Hauz Qazi Chowk above the Chawdi Bazaar station. The station's skylight is at the center of the chowk



Kashmiri Gate

The Kashmiri Gate station, like Rajiv Chowk, is an interchange station, and the route between these two stations sees some of the highest ridership in the metro system. The small stretch between the two stations, which is barely a few kilometers long, also happens to be the stretch that services Old Delhi, the Old Delhi railway station, as well as New Delhi railway station. On top of all this Kashmiri Gate is also the location of Delhi's main inter-state bus terminal. Needless to say, this stretch is way overcrowded most of the day.

Speaking of overcrowding, metro currently runs all its trains at 4 cars long, while it looks like all the stations in the system are designed to accommodate trains that are 8 cars long. With the opening of many Phase 2 lines in the coming months, there is news that some trains will become 6 cars long. I'm not sure what the reasoning is for keeping the trains short for now (probably economics), but the need to make them bigger is already very apparent!

Kashmiri Gate station






One of the many Kashmiri Gate station entrances



Vidhan Sabha (Old Secretariat)

North along the Yellow Line from Kashmiri Gate is the Old Secretariat, which now houses the offices of Delhi's administration (Vidhan Sabha), so it gets a station of its own. I doubt that very many administrators use metro to get to their place of work!

Vidhan Sabha station entrance, with the two white towers of the secretariat visible behind



Vishwavidyalay

The station for Delhi University's main North Campus. In the first of these two images, note the (few) auto-rickshas and many cycle-rickshas waiting near both station exits. The number of cycle-rickshas is particularly high on the right side of the image, waiting for rides to the nearby colleges. Many of the colleges are just beyond walking-range, which is the perfect distance for cycle-rickshas.

I think this might be indicative of a metro/cycle-ricksha nexus that could emerge with the metro system's expansion throughout Delhi. As metro stations pop up all over the place, they will be near to but just beyond walking-distance from many locations. The cheap, maneuverable and eco-friendly cycle-rickshas can in effect double and triple the "human powered" access range from metro stations. Maybe metro should invest in a feeder cycle-ricksha service instead of feeder buses!

Vishwavidyalay station





Adarsh Nagar

The Adarsh Nagar station is another one where the differences between the station/system and the outside world are stark. Right outside this station is a squatter settlement that contrasts startlingly with the modern, orderly and clean metro system. I think I'm going to write another post elaborating this difference and the issue of access.

Adarsh Nagar station and its environs







Shastri Nagar

After reaching Jahangirpuri on the Yellow Line, I returned to Kashmiri Gate station and took the Red Line westwards towards Rithala. Shastri Nagar station on this line is to me a perfect example of the middle-class and working-class landscapes that much of the metro goes through. Currently with residential colonies on both sides (which have more traditional commercial areas within and nearby), these stations may not get the kind of concentrated commercial development around them that we see in other places, but rather could have more "strip" commercial development along the tracks.

Mural on Shastri Nagar station


Shastri Nagar station and its environs




The Red Line track snaking its way through north-west Delhi



Inderlok

Inderlok is a future interchange station. The existing Red Line platform is to the left, on top of Parsavnath Metro Mall on the ground floor. The new Green Line trains coming from and going towards Mundka will terminate on the platform to the right, now nearing completion.

The Red and Green lines that meet at Inderlok are on different gauges, on account of what sounds to me like very political decisions made in the past regarding metro's gauge. The whole issue of different gauges on the same system seems very messy to me, and hopefully this won't lead to too many complications in the future.

Inderlok station



The Inderlok station premises has yet another mall on it (below), the design of which is indicative of the kind of ... ahem ... "modern" aesthetic that metro seems to wants to project - with lots of glass and aluminum facing. On a separate note, the mall does not appear to be very busy right now.

Mall at Inderlok station





Subhash Place

The district center at Netaji Subhash Place was another that I had never visited, and I spent some time there exploring the area.

Metro station and track with Netaji Subhash Place in the background






Looking towards the metro station


The nearby Pitampura TV tower. Don't miss the "Toe Away Zone" sign!



Netaji Subhash Place






Panorama of Netaji Subhash Place, covering an approximate 225 degree view from within the area


An open court between buildings, with the metro line visible in the background. Does the fork and spoon sculpture in the middle indicate a "food" court? :)



Seelampur

Seelampur is also on the Red Line, but to the east of Kashmiri Gate in north-east Delhi, across Yamuna river.

Seelampur station







End at Welcome

Welcome is the name of an area in east Delhi just ahead of Seelampur, in the overall Shahdara area. A good place to end the blog!

Welcome station