NEW DELHI, January 18: Rao Virendra Pratap Singh built a small farmhouse in Sainik Farms after spending 33 years in the United Kingdom. A quiet neighbourhood and a lot of greenery away from the traffic and pollution was what he was looking for.The octogenarian's dreams of a peaceful life got shattered by the loud farmhouse parties' culture. Now he patiently waits for the court to give its decision affecting hundreds others like him -- not just in Sainik Farms area but also in Najafgarh, Chhattarpur, Sainik Farms, Mahipalpur, Vasant Kunj. "Most of us bought land here in the late sixties and the seventies. This was ideal until the nouveau riche lalas and their children began buying farmland. Don't we have a right to privacy?" he says.
"White painted fences and small wicket-gates have given way to high walls and forbidding iron entrances. With the `back to nature' mantra doing the rounds in the city party circuit, farmhouses were chosen as the venue. And that has killed our peace," says a leading
industrialist requesting anonymity.
Loud music has drowned the cries of crickets. "If there is a party once in a blue moon you can ignore it or even enjoy it. But this happens night after night. These farmhouses, meant for peaceful living, have been transformed into hotels," he says.
"The owners don't live here and use the premises commercially. They are raking in the profits because these parties are normally a very expensive affair," he adds. "How many of them actually have liquor licences? Yet liquor flows freely. And don't the authorities know it? Well they are there as well in cars with red revolving lights and armed police escorts. The models and movie stars provide the glamour," says Sushma Sodhi, another Sainik Farm resident.
A resident of the Chhattarpur Farms told Express Newsline that he had once complained to the police about the loud music past midnight. "A police control room Gypsy came but instead of taking action, they started eating food and probably left with a bottle and their
pockets full. The next day, the manager of the farm menacingly warned me against complaining again. I have children and I don't want to get involved with these ruffians. So, I suffer in silence," he says.
The residents of various farms in and around Delhi have approached the government seeking redressal of their grievance. Consumer activist H D Shourie has also filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the High Court.
"I am told that some of the farms charge as much as Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh per night. Delhi now has very little open space and banquet halls are unsafe from the fire-safety point of view. There is a need for regulations. How long should they go on? How loud should the music be?" asks Shourie.
Nobody minds a party or a marriage in the neighbourhood occasionally. But imagine living with it forever. It is worse than living next to a railway line, say the residents.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
