Demolition mall

The reactions to the demolitions at 1 MG Road have been varied. Some have voiced their opinion that the designers are a spoiled bunch anyway, and are just making a fuss for no reason.

For they are Page 3 people, celebrities, they are not being forced into penury "" what's the big deal? The designers, on the other hand, are understandably ruffled (some rather more ruffled than others); they had not received any notice of the demolition of the building, and they feel that they are being unfairly singled out.

"It would have been common courtesy," says designer Raghavendra Rathore, "for the landlord to inform the tenants before the demolition took place. We got no legal notice; if someone had not happened to hear something from personal ties with the MCD, we would have had no notice at all."

Many of the designers, in fact, insist that they were assured until days before by the landlord that there would be no move by the MCD; and that if a move was made, they would definitely get a couple of weeks notice.

As it stands, the move by the MCD to only demolish 1 and 2 MG Road, and leave other addresses on this road alone, is beginning to look like a publicity stunt. "I think the MCD just wanted to get noticed," says Rohit Gandhi, who also had a store at 1 MG Road.

"They wanted to make their importance felt." Others report that one of the policemen was even carrying a handycam ("Maybe they were making a video: Notable Achievements of the MCD, 2006-7," scoffs one young designer), and all are agreed that the designers were a soft target.

Worst hit are the young designers. "It's all right for us," says Gandhi, "we have five other stores in India. But what about the designers for whom this is a flagship store?" Radhika Gupta, who owned the store Hilltop at 1 MG, is furious. " I just started my store a year ago," says the 23-year-old, "and more than the financial losses, I feel that it's an emotional blow; you feel like you can't trust anyone. Building a business is tough in any place, but if you're up against something like the MCD, which can just strike at any time, and doesn't play by any rules, it makes it infinitely more hard."

The designers are also aggrieved by the reaction of what they feel is a generally unfeeling public. "It's really sad the way everyone's reacted. People have suggested that we got what we deserved, that the clothes we sell are too expensive anyway, and that we are only party people. But the fact is that we're businesspeople; fashion is just another business. When we set up our shops in 1 MG, we saw that there were water connections, electricity connections, the place even had a kitchen licence, which is very hard to get. Presumably, all these things had been signed and approved by some government agency; all the papers were in order; how were we to know that it was an illegal construct? That too on a main road? We were paying tax, we paid rent, we work hard "" I think that to be singled out because we work in the fashion industry and go to an occasional party is really unfair."

The designers also claim that what the government has done is tantamount to shooting itself in the foot; Rina Dhaka estimates that the cost to the fashion industry could be as much as Rs 60 crore, and Rohit Gandhi estimates that six months of VAT for his store would be about Rs 4 lakh "" money that he claims the government has now let go down the drain.

It's also agreed that the complete demolition of the buildings is a bit ruthless; (or "primitive", in Rathore's words) Gandhi points out that Rs 50 lakh worth of glass has just been smashed to bits. "They could have sold off that glass," he says, and donated it to a charitable foundation somewhere. They could even have used the building for other purposes. To completely break a building like that, in a country like India, is not only ruthless, it's senseless."

And where do the designers go from here? The most popular sentiment is that there is no-where else to go now but the malls. Rathore is even planning a move to a city like Kolkata; "Delhi needs to grow up," he says.

Rina Dhaka, like many of the bigger names, has had offers pour in. Emporio, and new malls in Saket in south Delhi are mentioned, but "malls are sterile environments", says Rathore. "And 1 MG was a much more organic environ. Designers had to make sure their stores were up to par, otherwise, because of intense competition, they would go out of business, and a better store would replace them. In malls, anyone can rent space. This is a loss on many levels for the fashion industry."