The Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee, along with the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), entered the second phase of the ongoing sealing activities from Defence Colony by sealing over 50 commercial units that were misusing their basements for commercial use.
The SDMC officials along with the members of the monitoring committee and Delhi police teams reached the market around noon and were greeted by a gathering of shop owners protesting against the sealing drive.
To prove their demands, the market association had also pasted copies of the Land and Development Office notification issued in 1979 clarifying the use of their shops and that these are not illegal
Traders’ unit of the market called the sealing drive an unfair as the basements have been approved by the municipal corporation.
They also said that the traders had already paid to use the basements.
“We were not given any notices before the drive. We had received show-cause notices from the corporation in 2014-15, after which most traders paid the charges and submitted a supplementary deed as well. Where was the municipality then, and now why are we left to suffer on our own,” asked Rajender Malik, president of the Defence Colony Traders’ Association.
Flout safety rules
Bhure Lal, a member of the monitoring committee, said, “Basements cannot be used for commercial use. They can only store domestic surplus here. Besides, all the basements flout basic safety rules of two exits, fire fighting equipment and adequate lighting. The government can choose to regularise these units. However, the drive will continue till such time.”
