The Hindu : New Delhi News : MCD puts off sealing drive

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Saturday, Feb 03, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

MCD puts off sealing drive

Staff Reporter

But action on non-notified roads, polluting industries to go on

NEW DELHI: Though the Supreme Court on Friday refused to give more time to traders to submit their affidavits, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi said it would not carry out sealing action on 2,183 newly notified roads till February 20, the date when the sealing case comes up for hearing before the apex court again. But the sealing drive on non-notified roads, polluting businesses and A and B category colonies will continue.

However, more action on the sealing front could take place this coming Monday when the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee meets to discuss the apex court's directions and reviews the ongoing sealing exercise.

Once again the Monitoring Committee and the MCD could be on collision course if the former decides to target more than 1.30-lakh traders operating on 2,183 newly notified roads who have failed to submit their affidavits with the civic body.

Traders have also demanded that there should be no sealing on 2,183 roads till February 20.

Confederation of All-India Traders secretary-general Praveen Khandelwal said since the Supreme Court has not given any new direction to start sealing on newly notified roads, the Monitoring Committee and the MCD should wait for the apex court's orders in the matter.

Meanwhile, the MCD squads on Friday sealed 74 commercial properties in residential areas. Of these, 28 were sealed on Kushal Cinema Road and on the stretch between Jehangirpuri (A-block) and Prayas Road in Civil Lines Zone.

Similarly, 16 premises were sealed on Mandir Marg (between Press Enclave to M.B. Road) at Saket, while 29 premises were targeted on Najafgarh-Jharoda Road in South Zone. One property was sealed on Road No.4 at Punjabi Bagh Extension in West Zone.

Amnesty scheme

Meanwhile Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party president Harsh Vardhan on Friday demanded that the Central Government immediately announce an "amnesty scheme" and implement the amended Master Plan for Delhi-2021 to provide relief to the traders.

Dr. Vardhan said the Central Government had all through claimed that it was preparing the Master Plan that would provide relief to all and had announced that it would be implemented before January 31. But now, he said, there was talk of it being notified by February 7.

"There is no guarantee that the Congress will implement the new Master Plan by then too," he said.

Stating that the Congress has only created a situation of confusion by not finalising the Master Plan that had been drafted two years ago, Dr. Vardhan said it should now plead the case of the traders before the Supreme Court.

Asserting that "no trade should be sealed on the 2,183 notified roads," he said, "the only way to provide relief is by declaring that all constructions made and business going on till December 31, 2006, should be declared regularised through an amnesty scheme."

The BJP leader said stringent provisions should be made so that no new illegal constructions come up. "Full accountability should be fixed at the Government level and if need be a high-power separate agency be constituted for this purpose," he added.

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