The Hindu : New Delhi News : Political parties feeling the heat of sealing

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Wednesday, Apr 30, 2008
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New Delhi

Political parties feeling the heat of sealing

Staff Reporter

Wary of Assembly polls, the Delhi Cabinet and MCD leaders meet Jaipal Reddy to seek relief for affected people

Congress team sought an immediate stoppage to sealing process through amendments in MPD-2021
MCD team submitted a set of amendments which it felt would effectively save people from sealing

NEW DELHI: With the spectre of another major sealing drive in the Capital looming large following resumption of sealing operations on non-notified roads as per Supreme Court orders, leaders cutting across the political divide made a beeline for Nirman Bhawan here on Tuesday to seek relief for the affected people in this year of Delhi Assembly elections.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and her Cabinet colleagues, Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president J.P. Agarwal and Mayor Aarti Mehra met Union Urban Development Minister S. Jaipal Reddy to seek his intervention in the matter.

The entire Delhi Cabinet and Mr. Agarwal had gone to Mr. Reddy together to demand an immediate stoppage to the process of sealing through necessary amendments in the Master Plan for Delhi-2021. Some in the Congress delegation are even learnt to have toed the BJP line of seeking a one-time amnesty scheme for providing relief to the people.

On the other hand, Ms. Mehra, who was accompanied by Leader of the House Subhash Arya and MCD Standing Committee Chairman Vijender Gupta, did not touch on the amnesty issue as it cannot stand the scrutiny of law and instead asked the Minister to amend the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 to provide relief to a large number of people from the sealing operations. The MCD delegation submitted to the Minister a set of amendments to the Master Plan for Delhi-2021 which it felt would prove effective in saving people from sealing. The Minister assured the delegation that necessary amendments would be brought in.

“Sealing will be stopped,” said Ms. Mehra, adding that the MCD was only an implementing agency for the orders of the Court in the matter. She said the rules were framed by the Centre and therefore the delegation had demanded that relief be provided to the people.

The Mayor, who also ordered MCD Commissioner K.S. Mehra not to seal any properties in rural Delhi, had earlier ordered all the 12 Deputy Commissioners to resume sealing in compliance with the Supreme Court orders. Terming the Master Plan-2021 as a “disastrous plan”, she demanded that it be amended immediately.

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