NEW DELHI: Mayor Shelly Oberoi on Tuesday said she has written to the MCD commissioner asking him to initiate the process of de-sealing shops that have been sealed since 2017.
According to a resolution passed in the MCD House on January 17, the de-sealing of shops was supposed to be carried out on January 19.
Oberoi said the de-sealing work has been halted since MCD Commissioner Gyanesh Bharti rejected the resolution passed by the MCD House for de-sealing of shops that were shut in the last five to six years for violating land use rules.
“The livelihood of thousands of traders has been impacted because of the sealing action. The MCD House passed a resolution to de-seal these shops to give relief to these traders but it was rejected by the commissioner,” Oberoi said.
Shops and restaurants were sealed in several city markets during a drive by the MCD against land law violations following orders of a monitoring committee constituted by the Supreme Court.
In response to the mayor, the BJP spokesperson has issued a press statement challenging Oberoi to “either deseal the shops across the city or take punitive measures against MCD officials including the commissioner for not allowing desealing.”
According to the BJP, “Truth of the LSC (local shopping centre) case is that if the MCD seals shops as directed by the Judicial Committee of the Supreme Court, they will have to refund the traders the amounts they paid: therefore they are avoiding the matter.”
‘Violation of land laws’
Shops and restaurants were sealed in several markets of the national capital during a drive by the MCD against land law violations. The sealing drive took place in Defence Colony, Rajinder Nagar, Greater Kailash, Green Park, Hauz Khas and South Extension following orders of a Supreme Court-constituted monitoring committee.