Sealing drives creates troubles for traders, protests continues

Before setting up a building or business certain rules and regulations should be taken into consideration.

Sealing drive was a campaign by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) to close (and thus “seal” the locks of) a number of illegal commercial establishments in Delhi, India which are running in residential areas without authorization.

Several traders under the banner of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) called out the municipalities and the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for giving false hopes to them.

They also urged the Delhi government to convene a one-day special session of the State Assembly and pass a Bill to stop sealing drive that began at Defence Colony Market in December.

The march started from Red Fort and culminated at Ghanta Ghar where a public meeting was held and the traders put forth their demands.

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Have become jobless

“The MPs from Delhi in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha are keeping silent, perhaps they have forgotten that they are the elected representatives and many more elections will be held in future. They should not test the patience of traders. Also, many have become jobless after the sealing of shops,” said CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal.

Traders demand

The trader associations demanded the government immediately begins preparations of a new Master Plan 2021-2041 and constitute a working group comprising trade representatives, senior officials, town planners, architects for the purpose under the chairmanship of Lt-Governor of Delhi.

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Unusual protest method

On Valentine’s Day on Wednesday, the protesters staged a protest near municipal offices in central Delhi and offered roses to passersby to draw their attention towards the issues they are facing because of the ongoing sealing drive in the city.

The traders held placards and presented roses to passersby. The CAIT had championed the protest as ‘My Valentine-My Shop’.Since there was a holiday, resulting in absence of officials, we placed a large number of roses at the main gate of the Civic Centre. Similar protests were held at all zonal offices of the corporations,” the CAIT said in a statement.

The current sealing drive in Delhi is not happening for the first time. The city has witnessed a massive sealing drive in 2006 followed by violent protests from traders.  Now, the drive is being carried out again against business establishments that are using residential properties for commercial purposes without paying conversion charges which have also irk traders.