Protesting against the ongoing sealing drive in the national Capital, traders on Tuesday said they were being harassed as their shops and business establishments were sealed even after showing receipts of paid conversion charges.
Vinod Sharma, general secretary of Chandni Chowk market association, said the authorities should have interrupted at the time when the markets were being developed. “We have been running our businesses for years without facing any problem from the civic bodies. Now all of a sudden, many shops were sealed without any prior notices by the ‘North Delhi Municipal Corporation’ and some of the establishments adjoining to Chandni Chowk are still facing threats of sealing,” he said.
Sharma further added that the ‘Supreme Court Appointed Monitoring Committee’ has gone beyond its jurisdiction. “They are not only sealing shops but also vandalising the entire market chain which will ultimately affect the economy of the State,” he said.
Participating in protest march, Hari Shankar Sharma, one of the traders at Seelampur said that firstly there is no need to pay conversion charges as most of the markets in the capital have been announced commercial. “In case of violation or misuse of MCD norms, the civic body has to be in line with provisions laid down in the MCD act- 1957,” he said.
“It is intriguing that the corporation’s officials even after knowing all the prescribed rules for sealing, are not informing empowered committee about the procedures,” he said.
Kuldeep Bahri, an official of the Chawri Bazar market association said that the traders have already paid conversion charges. “We are ready to accept the conditions of the corporation. They should at least give warning of any unauthorised construction as per the rules but they keep sealing shops instead of finding the other way,” he said.
“The Government charges huge money in the name of taxes still they have not come to the rescue,” he said.
The representatives of the trade associations also claimed that sealing is utter violation of statutory provisions of MCD Act 1957. Meanwhile, North Delhi Municipal Corporation has sealed 14 local shopping complex and shops in Hudson Line.
A senior Corporation official said that action was taken for misusing the residential property for commercial purposes.
“The action was taken after receiving order from the Supreme Court Appointed Monitoring Committee,” he said. Earlier, many prominent markets were sealed by the civic authorities including Defence Colony, Hauz Khas, khan Market, and Rohini.