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MCD to renew ad hoc trade licences

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI: With the passage of the Bill granting a one-year moratorium on sealing and demolitions in the Capital, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has decided to give relief to those running shops from their homes by renewing ad hoc trade licences. And that is not all. Senior Councillors are now reportedly pressuring MCD officials to de-seal farmhouses that were sealed as per High Court order for misusing their premises.

At the MCD Standing Committee meeting held on Wednesday, it was decided that since demolitions and sealing exercises had stopped and traders were allowed to run their existing shops, the civic body should start renewing ad hoc licences of shopkeepers for a year. The decision came after some Councillors alleged that MCD field staff was harassing traders for not having a valid trade licence.

However, the MCD has so far not taken any decision on de-sealing farmhouses and is awaiting legal opinion from experts before deciding on the issue. However, sources said Congress Councillors had been pressurising senior MCD officials to give relief to farmhouse owners under the new Bill. But officials are cautious and keen to take legal opinion before any decision on the issue. "A decision on the issue is still awaited," said the MCD spokesperson.

Leader of the House Jitender Kochar said: "We want that farmhouse owners should also get relief and their properties should be de-sealed. However, those farmhouses not meeting the High Court guidelines for organising social functions will not be allowed to organise marriages and other programmes."

Meanwhile, the MCD has also decided to de-seal around 1,800 unlicensed meat shops that it had sealed in a recent drive across the Capital as per the High Court order. The decision came after the civic body's Veterinary Department framed several guidelines for running meat shops in the city.

"Those meat shop owners who want to get their shops de-sealed will have to give an affidavit to the civic body promising to upgrade their shops as per new prescribed norms within two months. Subsequently, MCD will examine these shops and accordingly grant new licences. The step had been taken to ensure supply of hygienic meat to residents,'' said the spokesperson

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