Delhi police have denotified Jantar Mantar as designated protest site in Delhi. Instead, three new venues have been designated: Ramlila Ground , Burari Ground and CBD Ground.
Protesting at Ramlila Maidan, near New Delhi Railway Station, can become a distant as well as costly affair, as the site has no free dates for the next two and a half months, news agency PTI said. The booking amount can soar to upwards of ₹1 lakh, the agency said.
Officials told PTI that the 12-acre ground, which can accommodate 50,000 people, can now be booked only for December 29, 30 and 31 this year.
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The daily booking rate is ₹50,000, with a refundable security deposit of ₹55,000. Including taxes, the initial outlay for one day is about ₹1.21 lakh.
Applications are handled by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s horticulture department. A no-objection certificate from Delhi Police is required before the civic body approves the booking.
According to the report, the ground had no free dates for the next two and a half months. It could then be booked only for December 29, 30 and 31 that year.
A small portion of the ground is available free for protests and gatherings, but it can accommodate only 150 people.
The designated venues are Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and CBD Ground. The reported capacities are 50,000 at Ramlila, 80,000 at Burari and around 15,000 at CBD Ground.
"The booking rate for the ground is ₹50,000 per day, plus a ₹55,000 security deposit that is refundable. The initial outlay including taxes comes to ₹1.21 lakh for a day's booking," an official told news agency PTI.
Civic officials clarified that a small portion of the ground is free for protests and gatherings, but it has a capacity of only 150 people.
MCD gives permission
The ground is booked through the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's horticulture department, which grants the permission. A no-objection certificate from Delhi Police is mandatory before the civic body clears an application.
Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar's standing order of October 11 de-notified Jantar Mantar and designated Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground in East Delhi as the new venues for protests and demonstrations.
The Delhi Police, in its order, has stated that a detailed and revised SOP for protests at the three venues will be issued separately.
According to protesters, for an organisation or a group of residents planning a demonstration, Ramlila Maidan requires a steep entry cost. The Jantar Mantar site did not require a payment of this kind.
"If given up for protest without any fees, the civic body will stand to lose at least ₹50,000 plus per day," an official said.
Civic officials also noted that the ground is booked for various programmes and festivities, as major festivals including Dussehra and Diwali are coming up in the next few weeks.
According to officials, the ground sits in a busy commercial area, with three hospitals and the headquarters of the municipal corporations nearby. In British times, it stretched beyond Ajmeri Gate, and present-day Kamla Market was once part of it.
Big events here have always strained the neighbourhood's roads, officials said, adding that police usually turn the two-way Asaf Ali Road into a one-way stretch and divert traffic bound for Deshbandhu Gupta Road onto the parallel Jawaharlal Nehru Marg.
Both routes, already crowded and encroached upon, struggle to cope. In 2014, a BJP rally here caused a gridlock all the way to ITO (nearly 4 km away), even though it was a Sunday and traffic was light, an official recalled.
According to officials, the maidan's story begins with water. Until 1930, it was a pond, which was filled and levelled so that Ramlila could be staged there.
The tradition began in 1932 and continues today, giving the ground its name. After Independence, in 1951, the area was developed to provide livelihoods to refugees who had arrived from Pakistan.
The political history of Ramlila Maidan
Ramlila Maidan, about four kilometers from Jantar Mantar, was originally meant for Dussehra celebrations in 19th century. But over the last few decades, it became a stage for the nation's politics.
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In 1952, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, regarded as an ideological inspiration for the BJP, launched his satyagraha demanding the complete integration of Jammu and Kashmir into the Indian Union.
Jawaharlal Nehru addressed large public meetings at the maidan in 1956 and 1957 as the prime minister. A permanent stage was built in 1962 for a public event in honour of Queen Elizabeth II, who was visiting India.
Indira Gandhi addressed a rally here after the 1971 victory over Pakistan, and a public meeting was held on November 26, 1974, in honour of Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev.
On June 25, 1975, the day the Emergency was declared, Jayaprakash Narayan and Atal Bihari Vajpayee addressed a rally at the ground.
In 1955, Nikita Khrushchev, first Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, visited the venue. Four years later, the then US President Dwight Eisenhower addressed the crowd at the ground, too. In 1961, Queen Elizabeth II also addressed a gathering at Ramlila Maidan in presence of the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Way back in August, 2011, Arvind Kejriwal and social activist Anna Hazare were at the centre of the 12-day anti-corruption fast at the historic Ramlila Maidan in the national capital.
The protest forced the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the centre to promise an anti-corruption watchdog - Lok Pal.
(With PTI inputs)