The picture started changing after the 1984 anti-Sikh riots when a few families sold their houses to victims and their kin, who later opened shops here. Once a quiet place, the market now bursts at its seams. With no parking place and jam-packed roads, the market has stood tall to an era gone by.

Even today, a handful of potters reside in the vicinity, who come into action during the Diwali season.

With small and dingy shops giving way to multistoryed complexes and shopping malls, the demography of the area tells the sordid tale of the formation of a concrete jungle.

Area councillor Gurpreet Gogi says, “Before Independence, the area had a large number of Muslims who used to sell bricks and earthenware. A few decades later, it has become a congested market and land prices have skyrocketed.”