Checking tent mafia: Now, book DDA venues online

NEW DELHI: In a bid to curb the tent mafia menace, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has announced an online facility for booking its community halls and parks. Wednesday onwards, residents will be able to book any of DDA’s 154 venues at the click of a mouse.
While many residents think the move will make the booking process more transparent , they say the proposal to hike security rates for bookings from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh would only burden the consumers, having no effect on tentwallahs. Consumers now have to submit the required documents and shell out a fee up to Rs 50,000 for booking a DDA venue.
Tentwallahs are known to book the grounds in advance and erect pandals on them. This forces genuine customers to approach the tentwallahs to book the same venue at a higher price. “There have been several complaints that genuine consumers are forced to pay astronomical amounts for booking DDA grounds. A committee was constituted to find a solution to the problem. Replacing the manual system with an online facility is part of the committee’s recommendations,” said an official.
Activists, however, feel that the online system will not deter the tent mafia. “Even today, pandals are already erected in many DDA grounds. The online system may improve the situation, but I doubt it will solve the problem entirely. Even the municipal corporation had launched the online booking system but there was a nexus between tentwallahs and civic officials. It will be tough for genuine consumers to book grounds as the nexus is unlikely to be affected,” said Purushuttom Kalra, member of an NGO which has been fighting against the tent mafia.