Agra (India): When late Sanjay Gandhi, during the 1975-77 Emergency, ordered shifting of the Central Jail to utilize the vacated land for a new commercial complex in the heart of the city, no one gave half a chance for its success.

People even said it would be a disaster as the traditional markets and mandis would not shift and people would continue to patronize the older oriental markets in Kinari Bazar, Rawat para, Seo ka Bazar.

 But in 30 years, the Sanjay Place commercial complex has emerged as the new hub of development, housing numerous government offices, MNCs, regional offices of banks and the biggest IT mandi in this region. As the nucleus of the city it has attracted huge investments in property business. It has redefined the profile of the city and set new parameters of urban development.

 The district authorities have now shifted the wholesale shoe and cloth markets to Sanjay Place which today has hotel Holiday Inn, half a dozen restaurants, bars, showrooms, coaching centres, insurance agencies, and countless number of computer shops.

 Sanjay Place is now a prestigious address much like Connaught Place in New Delhi. “Not owning office space in Sanjay Place can lower a commercial establishment’s status,” says LIC agent Sudhir Gupta. LIC has a beautiful red sand stoned building designed by a Mumbai architect.

 Agra’s need for business and commercial space has been largely met by the Sanjay Place Commercial comples, though the shop owners and Flat owners are not very satisfied with the amenities and the approach roads. In the past few months security too has been a major concern after a series of bank dacoities and looting attempts.

 During the office hours one can get a fair idea of the changing culture, modern life styles, the economic boom seen in a flurry of activities around stock exchange brokers’ offices, the large number of smartly dressed young boys and girls working for telecom industries or the insurance sector. “Sanjay Place represents the modern face of Agra, it is the crown. With more than 500 vendors in the hardware segment, thousands working for the insurance companies, 50 to 100 big branded companies having their showrooms, finance, logistics, courier companies, with more than 5000 outlets, this is one single hub that sustains the Agra economy and supports more than a lakh professionals,” says Rakshit Tandon, president of IT Development Council of UP. Tandon says the Income Tax Commissioner’s office, the Vikas Bhawan, CPWD offices, Food Corporation, UTI, you name any big name, it is bound to be in Sanjay Place. The FM channel, nursing homes, educational institutes, the Shaheed Smarak in the centre attract large numbers of youngsters to Sanjay Place.

Unfortunately the Agra Development Authority and the Agra Muncipal Corporation are both guilty of not providing adequate infrastructural facilities. Such a big complex has hardly a few public toilets, and none for women. The roads are awful, direct access to some blocks is denied, and encroachments are a big problem.

Although the Hari Parbat police station is just a minute’s walk but the law and order situation is really a matter of concern, says Rakshit.

But problems notwithstanding, the Sanjay Place commercial complex has developed as a major facilities centre supporting a wide range of economic activities. For all practical purposes it is the real heart of the city, says Sameer Gupta, president of the Agra Architects Association.

For the gourmet there is a whole food street close to the LIC building offering variety of snacks from dosa to bhature and dal bati. “You can’t get better tasting and affordable food anywhere else in the city. Fruit chats and fruit juices are the speciality items of this place,” says Bhaskar Sharma, a media person of the city.

The negative feature is the failure on the part of the ADA in not designing the complex in a systematic manner compatible with the Mughal architectural ambience of the city. “You can see concrete blocks mushrooming without any inherent planning, so you keep hopping from one to the other. Locating an address can be a cumbersome exercise here, and more importantly there is lack of green open spaces, parking is another major problem,” says social activist Rajan Kishore.