7,000 shop owners protest, major markets remain shut
ing to justify their cases before the monitoring committee. Traders are being treated like terrorists in their own country,” said Satyendra Wadhwa from Greater Kailash II.
“In last three months, trade in Delhi has declined by about 40% due to sealing. We suspect that sealing has been used as a tool to increase the foreign direct investment in retail markets,” said Khandelwal.
Traders want the Central government to bring a moratorium bill and demand that Delhi chief minister should pass a bill to stop sealing.
Also, an amnesty scheme notifying December 2017 as the cut-off date for construction should be maintained.
Traders from various markets such as Chawri Bazaar, Chhatarpur, Greater Kailash, South Extension, Jagatpuri, Defence Colony and Meharchand Market gathered near the Civic Centre in the morning and then moved to the Ramlila Ground chanting slogans against sealing. NEW DELHI: Shutters of shops in prominent markets such as Greater Kailash, South Extension, Defence Colony, Connaught Place, Chawri Bazaar, Chhattarpur, Lajpat Nagar, Hauz Khas, among others remained shut on Wednesday and no commercial activity took place as traders observed a
in response to the continuous sealing of shops in Delhi.
Sunil Kumar Jain, a trader from the Chhatarpur Marble Market, said that more than 1,000 people from his market joined the rally at Ramlila Maidan on Wednesday.
Though many popular markets remained closed all day, shops in some markets such as Khan Market, Sarojini Nagar, Chandni Chowk and Laxmi Nagar opened for business after 1pm.
Meanwhile, the standing committee of the North corporation on Wednesday approved licensing fee rates of the shops at refugee markets and those developed by the Land and development Authority for migrants coming from Pakistan during partition. My shop was sealed on December 21. I don’t have any hope of de-sealing. It’s hard to meet my expenses; I had to ask 15 employees to leave.
shopkeeper, double storey market, Lajpat Nagar IV shopkeeper, Meharchand Market
I asked 80 people working in my 9 garment shops in Lajpat Nagar IV to leave after sealing. I feel bad as majority of them were living on rent.
trader, Chattarpur Marble Market Marble Market Association, Chattarpur double storey market, Amar Colony