The crackdown against illegal constructions in markets continued on Wednesday with the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee and the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) sealing the upper floors and basements of around 135 shops in the posh Meherchand market on Lodhi Road.
Apart from commercial establishments, two banks, both public service undertakings (PSUs), have been given two days to wind up their operation, a senior SDMC official said.
Biggest drive
Officials said that this was the biggest single day drive undertaken by the civic bodies on the instruction of the monitoring committee.
“Sealing action was undertaken in 135 of the 153 shops at Meherchand market situated in Lodhi Colony on Wednesday. The ground floors of the shops were spared. Only upper floors and basements built or used in violation of civic norms were sealed,” the SDMC said in a statement.
They also said that the two banks — the State Bank of India and Dena Bank — have been given two days to wind up their operations, in the interest of the people who have accounts in these branches. Meherchand Market is home to many plush eateries and boutique shops, and sees high footfall.
In the drive, floors of shops such as Truefitt and Hill, Artesenia Play Clan, Fab India, Nur, Soma, Liquid Sanctuary, and Al Mas were targeted.
In nearby upscale Khan Market, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) over Monday and Tuesday sealed 16 commercial establishments in a crackdown against unauthorised construction. On Monday, the NDMC had sealed the terraces and open spaces of eight major establishments in Khan Market.
‘Will meet traders’
On January 5, as many as 56 establishments, including showrooms of automobile majors, in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj were sealed by the SDMC over “misuse” and “encroachment” of property.
South Delhi Mayor Kamaljeet Sehrawat said, “The shop owners should know that they are violating norms, especially when the drive has been happening for over a fortnight now. We will, however, sit with them and try to sort out the issue. We have the interest of the traders in mind and will seek a middle ground.”
