Delhi’s decision to move designated protests away from Jantar Mantar is also a decision about visibility, access and the geography of public dissent. The Delhi Police has named Ramlila Ground, Burari Ground and the Central Business District (CBD) Ground in East Delhi as the city’s new designated protest venues, replacing a site located close to Parliament and several central government institutions.
The three grounds can collectively accommodate large gatherings, but they are not interchangeable. They differ sharply in distance from Parliament, public transport access, surrounding land uses, existing traffic pressure, booking availability and the extent to which they are embedded in residential neighbourhoods. The change therefore creates an urban governance question: can a protest venue be treated simply as an open parcel of land, or must it be planned as a public facility connected to the city’s transport, policing and administrative systems?
Jantar Mantar’s importance came from its location. Situated in central Delhi, it allowed demonstrators to remain close to the institutions that protests often seek to address. The new venues distribute demonstrations across north, central and east Delhi, but the shift also introduces distance as a factor in political participation. Burari Ground is about 22 km from Parliament, CBD Ground is around 13 km away and Ramlila Maidan is approximately 5 km away.
That geography matters because the practical cost of attending a protest includes more than the time spent at the venue. It includes travel, transfers, parking, food, public conveniences and the ability to reach decision-makers or the media. The source report does not establish how the new arrangement will affect attendance, but the distances show that access will not be uniform across venues or groups.
### Three grounds, three urban conditions
Burari Ground, also known as Nirankari Ground, is located on land owned by the Delhi Development Authority. Spread across about 50 acres, it can accommodate between 80,000 and one lakh people. Its location along the Delhi-Chandigarh Highway places it near Burari, Timarpur and Jahangirpuri, while its large size makes it suitable for gatherings that would overwhelm smaller central venues.
The ground has hosted political rallies and religious congregations. The Sant Nirankari Mission leases it for a few days every November for its annual congregation. Residents also use the land for cricket matches and driving classes, and national-level kite-flying competitions are held there in March. These existing uses show that the ground is not an empty reserve waiting for protests; it is already part of the local area’s social and commercial calendar.
A police officer cited roadside parking as one reason the ground is preferred for large gatherings. That same feature can create pressure on the highway when events draw substantial crowds. The ground was also one of the sites used during the farmers’ agitation against the three farm laws in 2020-21, when hundreds of farmers camped there for months. Its capacity is therefore established in practice, but so are the logistical pressures associated with prolonged mobilisation.
Ramlila Maidan offers a different balance between proximity and congestion. The 12-acre ground can accommodate around 50,000 people and is about 5 km from Parliament. It has a long political history, including major public gatherings in the 1950s, a 1971 rally addressed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the 2011 anti-corruption movement led by Anna Hazare and events connected with the formation of the Aam Aadmi Party in 2013.
Its location gives it political visibility, but it is also surrounded by dense neighbourhoods, including Turkman Gate. Asaf Ali Road, the Chawri Bazar area, roads leading towards New Delhi Railway Station, Zakir Husain Delhi College and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s Civic Centre all sit close to the ground. The area already experiences heavy traffic through the day, making crowd movement and road closures a management challenge rather than a problem created only by protests.
The venue falls under the MCD’s jurisdiction and costs approximately Rs 50,000 per day to book. It also hosts two major Ramlila events during Dussehra. The report says no dates are available for other events for the next two and a half months. That constraint raises an administrative issue: a designated venue must be legally available when required, not merely listed on paper. Residents also use part of the ground for cricket and vehicle parking, adding to the competition for space.
CBD Ground is the smallest of the three, with a capacity of around 15,000 people across 12 acres. Owned by the DDA, it lies in Shahdara district near Vishwas Nagar, Krishna Nagar, Jagatpuri and Anand Vihar. The ground is mainly used for Ramlila performances and wedding functions, and three Ramlila events are currently underway there. Political leaders have also used it for election gatherings.
The venue’s surrounding urban environment is especially important. Cross River Mall, Unity One Mall, several banquet halls and the office of the Joint Commissioner of Police, Eastern Range, are nearby. Karkardooma Court Metro station is about half a kilometre away, giving the ground a rail connection that could support access. However, the route from central Delhi passes through ITO, Vikas Marg, Laxmi Nagar and Preet Vihar, corridors where traffic conditions can already be demanding.
B S Vora, president of the Federation of East Delhi Resident Welfare Associations, said protests and confrontations with the administration might be easier to manage in central Delhi, while the CBD Ground lacks the infrastructure required for such activity without disrupting surrounding areas. He specifically pointed to nearby markets and daytime activity, warning that traffic could become an issue and could also create law-and-order problems.
### The infrastructure behind a protest venue
The comparison between the three sites shows why protest management is also a land-use and infrastructure question. Capacity is the most visible metric, but it does not answer whether people can reach a ground safely, whether emergency vehicles can move, whether toilets and other facilities are available, or whether surrounding roads can absorb the additional demand.
The venues also sit within different institutional arrangements. Burari Ground and CBD Ground are on DDA-owned land, while Ramlila Maidan falls under the MCD. This means that land ownership, booking rules and local administration are not concentrated in a single system. The report identifies an MCD booking charge for Ramlila Maidan, but does not establish whether comparable charges, availability rules or operating protocols apply uniformly across all three locations.
That institutional fragmentation can affect how a protest is organised. A police designation identifies where a demonstration may take place, but a functioning venue requires coordination among the police, the land-owning agency, the municipal authority, transport agencies, traffic police, event organisers and local residents. The supplied material does not set out the operating framework for this coordination. It does, however, show that each ground already has other users and existing administrative responsibilities.
The distinction between a protest site and an event ground is also significant. Ramlila performances, wedding functions, religious congregations and political rallies may be planned in advance and have defined durations. Protests can change in size, continue for extended periods or involve negotiations with authorities. The farmers’ agitation at Burari illustrates how a venue can become a long-duration civic space rather than a location used for a short gathering.
### Distance, visibility and the central city
Jantar Mantar’s replacement by venues across Delhi changes the relationship between public assembly and the central state. A protest held five kilometres from Parliament at Ramlila Maidan remains more connected to the political centre than one held 22 kilometres away at Burari. The three-site system therefore does not create one uniform alternative to Jantar Mantar; it creates a hierarchy of access and visibility.
The source report’s description of Burari as a distant site captures the central tension. A larger venue may reduce pressure within the core city, but the distance can make a demonstration less visible to institutions, journalists and passers-by. A smaller or more central venue may preserve visibility, but it can transfer the burden to dense neighbourhoods, arterial roads, markets and public transport networks.
The CBD Ground sits between those conditions. It is closer to central Delhi than Burari and has a nearby metro station, but it is surrounded by active commercial and residential areas. Its stated capacity is also much lower than Burari’s. The venue may therefore be more accessible by public transport while offering less space for large or prolonged gatherings.
These trade-offs are not unique to protests. They are common to the planning of stadiums, exhibition grounds, religious venues and public event spaces. A city must balance regional access with local disruption. In the case of demonstrations, the balance has an additional democratic dimension because restrictions on location can influence who can participate and how visible a grievance becomes.
The available evidence does not show how the Delhi Police evaluated these trade-offs before naming the venues. It also does not establish whether public consultations were held, what crowd-management infrastructure will be provided or how authorities will deal with dates already occupied by other events. Those details will determine whether the new arrangement functions as a practical system or remains a list of designated grounds.
### The larger urban question
Delhi’s new protest sites reveal how the city manages public space when democratic activity competes with traffic, commerce, residential life, religious events and private functions. The decision is not only about moving crowds. It is about deciding which parts of the city remain available for public assembly and how much disruption authorities are prepared to manage in return.
The evidence supplied in the report confirms that the three venues have substantial capacities and established histories of hosting large gatherings. It also confirms that each carries significant constraints: highway congestion in Burari, dense central traffic and limited availability at Ramlila Maidan, and market-related congestion and infrastructure concerns at CBD Ground. What remains unclear is the common operating system that will connect venue designation with transport planning, booking availability, emergency access and resident communication.
The next test will be practical. Authorities will have to manage demonstrations alongside existing events, local travel patterns and the everyday use of these grounds. Whether the new sites preserve meaningful access to public protest will depend not only on their acreage or stated capacity, but on how Delhi connects them to the rest of the city.
