Sealing drive fallout: Worried Greater Kailash traders start shifting stocks

The situation was not very different in South Extension and Green Park Market where shopkeepers held a series of meetings to decide their future action since Friday night .

Shopkeepers of Greater Kailash I, M Block market on Saturday started shifting their stock to other places in order to be not caught off guard like their Defence Colony counterparts.

Shopkeepers of Greater Kailash I, M Block market on Saturday started shifting their stock to other places in order to be not caught off guard like their Defence Colony counterparts. (Hindustan Times)

Some worried shop owners approached the Greater Kailash I Market Association with a barrage of queries. “They were eager to know if their shops will be sealed by the SDMC and Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee on Tuesday. Many of them claimed to have not slept the entire night after the news of sealing spread,” said Rajendra Sharda, chairman of GK I market association. There are 73 buildings in market and each of them have been extended till the second floor.

The situation was not very different in South Extension and Green Park Market where shopkeepers held a series of meetings to decide their future action since Friday night .

Though the civic body did not give any clarity of the markets under scanner, officials said the action will continue next week.

A group of aggrieved shopkeepers also met the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Delhi state president Manoj Tiwari on Saturday evening.

“We informed him that civic authority is carrying sealing drive without serving any prior notice and it is unjustified. We informed him that majority of shopkeepers in south Delhi markets have deposited the conversion charges as per old rate (Rs 6,136 per square metre) and the rates notified by Delhi Development Authority in 2012 were too high (R 89,000 per square metre), even more than the cost of shops,” said Sharda.

The shopkeepers have demanded that the DDA reconsiders the conversion rates and the file has been pending with the Lieutenant Governor for approval.

“During the meeting, Tiwari promised to provide all assistance in the matter. But there is a lot of confusion and misconception among shopkeepers. We will appreciate it if the municipal officials give clarification and serve notice before taking sealing action,” said Bhagirath Lal, shopkeeper of Green Park market .