Micely Done

- Neha Gupta Kapoor

It is 2011. Wild plants add some greenery to the muddy 45 acres of uneven barren land near Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport. On this, plots are roughly marked out with bare poles. Some have rags tied around them as some sort of indication for the land owner, others are demarcated by tin fences. Unfinished buildings lay bare within. In the distance a red-tailed aeroplane is taking off. These are the only signs of civilisation in New Delhi’s Aerocity. There is, however, no sign of any ongoing work. Everything seems to have come to a standstill.

The area is under scrutiny by the Delhi Police and the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security. Location of the Aerocity project is a security concern as it is less than a kilometre from IGI Airport and a stone’s throw from Aviation Research Centre of the Research and Analysis Wing.

Less than a decade ago, the Delhi Aerocity project was proposed by GMR Group-led Delhi International Airport (DIAL) to be a one-stop-shop near IGI Airport with a large inventory of rooms, F&B options, and event and meeting spaces. Anticipating a promising future in Aerocity, hospitality groups invested in properties here, only to be met with opposition from authoritative security departments later. Thereafter, on persistent requests from investors, high ranking officials from various government departments formed a committee to dig deeper into the pros and cons of the Aerocity project. They must have seen more positives than negatives, because finally in the second half of 2013 this hospitality project saw the light of the day. A list of security measures was prepared, which each one of the hotels to be constructed here should adhere to. Some of these instructions include bulletproof windows, sensor devices on windows, limited access to rooftops, sophisticated security gadgets in runway–facing rooms and CCTV cameras monitoring the entire property at all times.