The Hindu : Front Page : Ram Navami comes as a godsend for Delhi traders

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 07, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Ram Navami comes as a godsend for Delhi traders

Sandeep Joshi

Many make the most of the holiday to remove shutters from their shops and avoid sealing by municipal squads

OUT IN THE STREETS: Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president Harsh Vardhan leading a demonstration on Thursday in protest against the ongoing drive to seal commercial properties in the Capital's residential areas.

NEW DELHI: The public holiday in the Capital on Thursday on account of Ram Navami came as a godsend for thousands of beleaguered traders across the city who made full use of the day to convert their shops into houses by removing shutters and replacing them with walls. Some even changed their proclaimed trade to misguide the municipal squads out to seal commercial premises functioning from residential areas.

The day also saw more than 5,000 traders submit solemn affidavits -- undertaking to wind up all commercial activities at their premises in the residential areas by June-end as per Supreme Court orders - at the 11 zonal offices of the civic body that remained open all day despite it being a holiday.

Though traders in many parts of the Capital have either been removing shutters from their commercial establishments to convert them into residential accommodations or changing their trade by repainting boards outside their shops since the beginning of this week, the practice has picked up momentum over the past couple of days, particularly in the West, Rohini and South zones. Many traders have actually managed to save their illegal shops from sealing by fooling the civic body's squads.

In areas where commercial establishments are functioning illegally from residential premises, people have changed their professions overnight. While jewellery and garment shops stand converted into beauty parlours and hair-cutting saloons, those selling hardware and building material, plywood and motor parts are now selling grocery items and vegetables. Similarly, several smaller shops stand converted into restaurants and tea stalls, hair-cutting saloons, cyber cafes or telephone booths.

In localities where the civic body has carrying out the sealing drive, traders have re-painted the signboards outside their shops announcing the "change" in their commercial activities. Though in several cases the MCD sealing squads have refused to listen to desperate pleas by defaulting traders, some luckier ones among them have managed to persuade them not to seal their properties.

Traders with huge shops, however, are not among these lucky ones as they can neither convert these into residential premises overnight nor change their trade. As per the Supreme Court orders, the MCD has decided not to touch shops operating from the ground floor and engaged in commercial activities providing day-to-day service to local people. These include shops selling groceries, vegetables, bakery products, crockery, gifts, cards, household plastic goods and garments besides activities like tuition centre, beauty parlour, sweets shops, cigarette shops, cyber café and dry cleaning.

Thursday saw a total of 5,030 traders submit their affidavits at the Deputy Commissioners' offices in the 11 civic zones. The highest number of affidavits (746) was received in Najafgarh Zone, followed by Sadar Paharganj (722), West Zone (721), Shahdara-North (699), Rohini (599), Civil Lines (474), Shahdara-South (380), Karol Bagh (279), Central Zone (250), South Zone (125) and City (35).

In the past three days, more than 15,000 traders have submitted affidavits to prevent sealing of their properties, while the MCD has sealed 2,845 commercial establishments across the city since the drive began on March 29. More traders are expected to file their affidavits on Friday when the Supreme Court deadline expires.

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