New Delhi: Every morning, Vishal Rajpal steps out for a walk to Sapna Park near his house. But as he approaches Raja Dheer Sen Marg, an inevitable stench hits him. He instinctively pulls a handkerchief over his nose and hurries past heaps of garbage.This stretch on the busy road in East of Kailash, an upscale residential neighbourhood in south Delhi, has tested the patience of locals for years now. What was once a dhalao — an open walled concrete structure used a local garbage collection point — until 2022 has turned into an open dumping ground. When an EV charging station was installed at the spot in 2024, residents hoped the problem would finally end. But the reality on the ground has not changed a bit.The stretch connects several internal lanes and provides locals access to nearby markets, schools, parks and residential blocks. With houses, small shops and everyday services lining the road, it records steady movement of residents, delivery vehicles and traffic throughout the day.Located close to major roads linking the area to Greater Kailash and Nehru Place, it struggles to handle heavy traffic flowing towards Lala Lajpat Rai Marg, where shops, vendors and rows of parked vehicles swallow up pedestrian space. The garbage piled along this stretch only adds to the clutter, shrinking the walkway further and turning an already cramped road into a messy, chaotic passage for pedestrians and vehicles alike.Approach the spot, and the stench assails you before the sight of the trash does. There’s a footpath, but it is almost swallowed by heaps of waste, including plastic bags, food scraps and litter. With the walkway blocked, one sees pedestrians, faces buried in handkerchiefs and dupatta, forced onto the road, quickly weaving through moving vehicles in order to escape the stretch.“The dhalao was removed more than three years ago, but people’s habits did not change and they continued to dump rubbish here,” Rajpal, who has lived here for about 12 years, said. “At times, the waste spills over right up to the park entrance, and I have to walk a few hundred metres extra just to skirt it. There is a designated spot for the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) sanitation team, but it is rarely cleaned. The stench is so strong that you cannot walk from that side, and the opposite footpath is completely encroached,” he added.Even the installation of the EV charging station did not help much. “I own an EV, but I have never used the charging point here. It is difficult to find space, and standing there for an hour in that toxic environment is impossible. Sometimes, the rubbish piles up right in front of the charging station,” he said.“I live near the spot,” said Karan Aggarwal, another local. “What is the point of building footpaths and roads if they end up being blocked because of civic negligence? The rubbish has been piling up here for nearly four years, and people are tired of complaining. One can’t use the charging station. And we keep hopping between the footpath and the road. In monsoon, it only gets worse.”The Public Works Department (PWD) owns this road, while the MCD is responsible for collecting the waste. Neither responded to TOI’s queries on the issue.
