Over seven lakh shops across city shut, traders hold marches
NEW DELHI: The protest against the sealing drive picked up on Tuesday as over seven lakh shops in 2,500 markets across the city were shut.
"Traders protested in various markets across the national capital on Tuesday as part of a day-long bandh called by an industry body against the ongoing sealing drive in Delhi. From Amar Colony Market to Karol Bagh, shopkeepers raised slogans and waved black flags to register their protest, under the banner of the Confederation of All India Traders," said a member of CAIT.
Traders also took out protest marches in various markets, including Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk, Sadar Bazar, Chawri Bazar, Kamla Nagar, Karol Bagh and Kashmere Gate.
Demonstrations were held at around 100 places across Delhi, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said in a statement.
On March 28, a traders' rally will be held at Ramlila Maidan here against the sealing drive which, the CAIT said, is in "utter violation" of The Municipal Corporation of Delhi Act, 1957.
The business losses due to Tuesday's bandh were estimated at Rs 1,800 crore, with the revenue loss to the government pegged at about Rs 150 crore, CAIT said.
They appealed to the central government to bring a law for a moratorium on the sealing.
The sealing drive is being carried out by a Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee against business establishments using residential properties for commercial purposes. The drive is being implemented by the three Bjpled municipal corporations in Delhi.
The committee was set up by the Supreme Court in 2006. In 2012, the apex court asked the committee to halt the drive. But in December 2017 it ordered the resumption of the drive.
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Monday said that the demand of AAP to bring an ordinance would not be the real solution, but only change and implementation of DDA Masterplan work. The Supreme Court has rejected the changes in the Master Plan earlier.