Revamp gathers pace to create a modern Meharchand Market

A little after Partition in 1948, Ashok Sakhuja's father, Brij Lal Sakhuja, opened his shop a makeshift khokha that sold groceries - in the refugee market developed by the Land And Development Office (L&DO) in Lodhi Colony. In 1962, the market was renamed Meharchand Market, after Mehr Chand Khanna, the then Union minister for rehabilitation.

- Paras Singh

A popular hub for local shoppers for decades, the bazaar slowly started transforming into one of the Capital's upscale markets with cafes, salons and chic boutiques in the late 2000s. But in January 2018, when a sealing drive by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) shut 135 out of the 153 shops after directions from a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee, it started to slump overnight.

On Wednesday, multiple plots in the market were covered with tin sheets, workers vigorously shaped the new buildings, and the area was abuzz with construction activity. All signs that the long-pending redevelopment of Meharchand Market was finally gathering pace.

MCD's building department has cleared the new building plans for more than 40 units in the market.

The redevelopment plan had been pending since it was approved by erstwhile south MCD's standing committee in January 2022. The civic body later sought some clarifications from L&DO on the allotment of common areas to shopkeepers.