Decision over parking lot in Khan Mkt likely today
NEWDELHI: A decision on whether the New Delhi Municipal Council will manage the parking in Khan Market or it continues to be “free” under the traders’ association couldn’t be taken in a meeting on Thursday.
A delegation of the Khan Market Traders’ Association met NDMC officials on Thursday but the deadlock over the issue could not be broken.
“We met the council officials. We will again meet them on Friday and submit some documents. Hopefully, a decision will be taken,” a spokesperson for Khan Market Traders’ Association told Hindustan Times.
This comes a day after Khan Market traders had shut down their shops on Wednesday in protest after the council directed its staff to manage the parking at the market. The NDMC had said that the decision to take over the parking lot has come after the association failed to pay the licence fee arrears of nearly ₹3.5 crore . The shops were shut as a sign of protest between 2pm and 4pm on Wednesday.
The dispute on the parking lot is not new. In 2011, Delhi High Court asked the Khan Market Traders’ Association to pay a monthly licence fee of ₹5.34 lakh to the New Delhi Municipal Council to ensure that parking continues to remain free for the visitors. This money was levied in lieu of the revenue loss suffered by the civic agency due to free parking.
Council officials, however, say the traders stopped payment after 2.5 years. “To date, ₹3.5 crore is outstanding. A notice was issued 4-5 months ago to the traders but the reply wasn’t satisfactory. A fortnight ago, we sent our staff and took over the lots. However, they asked for some time. On Wednesday, we did it again. Now, the director vigilance is hearing the traders as well as the enforcement department. A decision is expected on Friday,” a senior council official, who wished not to be named, said.