Now, iconic Ramlila Maidan to host marriages, other events

The historic Ramlila Maidan that has hosted the annual Ramlila event along with hordes of major political rallies before and after India's Independence is all set to lose its identity as the North MCD has been mulling to rent out the property for weddings and parties. The Corporation, which has never allowed such events on that ground, has claimed to give permission to as many as four events at one point of time resulting in manifold increase in revenue generation but a section has also claimed that the move will ruin uniqueness of the iconic ground.

The Opposition in the Corporation also has a similar view on this as they claim that the move is to woo votes of those living in Central Delhi area. "Apart from Ramlila celebrations, we see political rallies, cultural and other similar events on the ground. Once private players are ensured access of the ground, structures for holding private events will witness long spells in all seasons. Noticing their presence, rally organisers may distance themselves resulting in a major dent to its distinct identity," said an Opposition leader.

Declaring it a political decision, the Corporation officials said that instead of revenue boost, the go ahead may witness losses in future besides degrading value of the ground.

"As per the existing norm, the North MCD charges Rs 50,000 each day for hosting one rally and in majority of cases, booking of ground takes place for four to five or even more days and then the charges multiply with each day resulting in manifold increase of revenue. Now, when marriages are allowed to take place, the Corporation cannot charge above Rs 10,000 to 15,000 and hence, if the ground is booked for a single or even two marriage events then revenue will drop drastically and in that case there will be no surety that any political party will approach the authorities for rally fearing clash of events," said an official not wishing to be named.

The officials also added: "Once the ground will be let out for private events, it will witness enormous quantity of garbage in and around the area which may distract the traditional ground users. Even the Corporation will face difficulty to remove the same in a time-bound manner. And if things go wrong, the ground can witness illegal structures from organisers of marriage and other events."