Sealing drive to target street hawkers, unauthorised colonies next: Maken

Maken explained that a clause in the Bill, which proposed a three-year extension to the December 31 deadline, removed impunity to street vendors. They were covered by the bill passed in 2014.

The ongoing sealing drive will soon target street hawkers and unauthorised colonies, the Delhi Congress said, citing the new amendments in the National Capital Territory of Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Second (Amendment Bill, 2017) passed by the Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

The MCD has sealed shops and farm houses in Defence Colony and Chattarpur . (Sanchit Khanna/HT PHOTO)

“The sealing drive will not be limited to the posh south Delhi markets and Chattarpur. Next on the target of the municipal corporation would be street vendors and unauthorised colonies, which were hitherto provided immunity under the Act,” Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken told newsmen on Wednesday.

Maken explained that a clause in the Bill, which proposed a three-year extension to the December 31 deadline, removed impunity to street vendors. They were covered by the bill passed in 2014.

“The amended bill in 2014 had kept a provision to prevent the street vendors from facing any punitive action. Since this has been removed, over five lakh vendors would be the next target of the sealing drive,” said Maken

The Congress leader has written a letter Union minister of state for housing and urban affairs Hardeep Puri, suggesting that the ministry should consider reducing the conversion charges from residential to commercial to 10% from the existing 100%.

Maken said in the 2014 amendment, unauthorised construction in regularised unauthorised colonies, urbanised villages and village abadis were protected till June 1, 2014. But no such extension has been given under the present amendment, he said.

“Therefore any construction beyond June 1, 2014, would be deemed unauthorised leading to hardships in unauthorised colonies and village abadis across Delhi,” he said, urging the minister to reconsider this aspect and introduce a new bill to protect all construction up to June,2017 in urbanised villages and unauthorised colonies.