new delhi reliance industries ltd ril the countrys largest privately owned company has decided to go slow on its plans of constructing a gigantic 720000 sq ft mall in a residential colony in south delhi following protests from an assorted group of upper middle class professionals who live there an ril group company in 2007 had purchased a 4acre plot in south delhis alaknanda through an auction from the delhi development authority dda for about rs 304 crore over the years the company has obtained reams of licences from the authorities to build a sixstorey mall with threefloor basement the mall is slated to be opened in 2014 but reliance had not accounted for the determined opposition from a group of local residents that calls itself the citizens alliance and includes economists doctors architects lawyers and teachers this group which held a 1000 peopleplus rally last month to protest the construction of the mall says visitors to the proposed mall will choke traffic in the small bylanes of the locality and create pandemonium for its residents it claims that the residents were expecting the plot to be used for common facilities such as tennis courts playgrounds and swimming pools and that they were shocked to discover a mall being planned at the site a dda spokesperson however disputes this claim and says this plot was always reserved for commercial purpose in delhis master plan a dda spokesperson however disputes this claim and says this plot was always reserved for commercial purpose in delhis master plan citizens alliance has in the past few months petitioned delhi chief minister shiela dixit bjp leader vk malhotra as well as the lt governor of the city while there has been speculation that arvind kejriwal was backing the protest ravi kaimal a prominent member of the citizens alliance said this was not the case and the activistturnedpolitician was not connected with their cause a person with direct knowledge of rils retail plans said the company had decided to follow a wait and watch attitude after the protests gathered momentum the company is the process of executing several projects it has plenty on its plate it is in no hurry to complete the alaknanda mall all its documents for the plot are in order he said a reliance official said the company was evaluating market conditions we cant say anything as we are not sure on the return on investment the proposed mall is being discussed and if it is not suitable we will postpone it he said an email sent to the reliance spokesman on monday did not elicit a response the construction of big supermarkets or malls in city centres is a controversial issue worldwide and has often led to faceoffs between big retailers and local communities some big cities in the us such as new york and washington dc have restricted the entry of walmart the worlds largest retail company but the opposition being faced by reliance is possibly the first antibig retail