Artisans get temporary land for making Ravana effigies

New Delhi: Two plots of land have been identified in west Delhi for artisans making Ravana effigies before the upcoming festive season, the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) told the Delhi High Court on Tuesday.

The court asked the SDMC, which had decided to charge Rs five per square feet from the artisans for the land, to charge only Rs 1.50 per square feet per month for 2018 as there was hardly any time left for them to do their work. 

A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao asked the authorities to conduct a survey and provide data to help frame guidelines for the future. 

The court said the artisans are required to vacate the land immediately after the Dussehra festival scheduled on October 19 and listed the matter for further hearing on November 15. 

SDMC counsel Monika Arora told the court that the authorities have identified two pieces of land in Beri Wala Bagh and Subhash Nagar to give it to the artisans for two months. 

She said they will also provide facilities like toilets and fire security to the artisans at the allotted land. The artisans told the court that at the rate of Rs five per square feet, they would end up paying Rs 22,000-Rs 30,000 each month, which they cannot afford. 

They sought the usage charges to be reduced to Re 1 per square feet which was affordable. 

The bench had earlier termed as exorbitant the rates prescribed by the SDMC for the use of land for making of the effigies by artisans. 

The court was hearing a PIL initiated on its own after it came across a news report saying that several Ravana effigies, built by artisans who came here from Rajasthan for Dussehra, were destroyed or confiscated by the SDMC for allegedly encroaching on public land. 

In September 2017, it had asked the Delhi government and the corporation to formulate a policy for allocating land to the artisans. Thereafter, a draft policy was framed by the Delhi government after holding meetings with the corporations and other civic bodies. 

The policy laid down the modalities for utilising land identified for use by the artisans. 

Under the policy, there is a registration fee of Rs 500 per applicant and usage charges of Rs 5 per square feet per month. 

It stated that the artisans would have to register with the corporations two months before the start of the work and once a site was allotted, it would be for only two months. 

On expiry of the period of allotment, the artisans would have to vacate the site. 

The document also said that the artisans would have to ensure that there was no pollution of any kind at the site allotted to them.