The Hindu : New Delhi News : Now 48-hour notice prior to sealing

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Thursday, May 08, 2008
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New Delhi

Now 48-hour notice prior to sealing

Staff Reporter

MCD Standing Committee passes resolution

Indignation at the “haste” to seal by civic body officials
Disapproval of “complicated” procedures

NEW DELHI: Amid increasing allegations that Municipal Corporation of Delhi officials were following a “pick and choose” policy in sealing establishments across the Capital, the MCD Standing Committee at its meeting on Wednesday passed a resolution proposing to make mandatory the issuance of a 48-hour notice prior to sealing any property.

Members of the Standing Committee were unanimous in expressing their indignation at the “haste” that civic body officials exhibited while sealing properties.

It was this callous offhandedness, they said, that was responsible for the “locking up” of two senior citizens inside their premises as part of the sealing drive in Tilak Nagar on Monday.

The members also indicated their strong disapproval of the “complicated” procedural intricacies involved in getting an erroneously sealed property de-sealed.

Standing Committee Chairman Vijender Gupta said while it was lamentable that similar, delaying procedural entanglements were required for getting a wrongfully sealed property as well as a sealed property de-sealed, the civic body had issued repeated, stern directives to the officials concerned to carry out the sealing drive impartially.

The meeting was also witness to several outcries pertaining to the harassment being meted out to the public in the garb of the sealing drive at the hands of civic body officials.

Municipal Commissioner K. S. Mehra said: “All officials have been directed to work strictly within the ambit of the law. The exempted areas will not be subjected to sealing. A meeting is conducted every Monday at which the officials are apprised of the plan of action. Details of any confusion regarding the status of a particular location should be conveyed to me elaborately.”

The Commissioner also said that he would discuss the status of the 48-hour notice proposal and that it would be dealt with in the next meeting of the Standing Committee.

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