With no clarity on de-sealing process, warehouse owners stuck in no man’s land

Amid protest by traders, nearly 80 marble shops were sealed by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation in December last year on the orders of the SC-appointed monitoring committee.

Parmanand Malani, a marble trader with two stores that double up as warehouses in South Delhi’s Chhattarpur, today operates from a small set-up in Gurugram.

Large marble slabs wrapped in blue plastic sheets can be seen on both sides of the road in Chhattarpur. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

His two warehouses (godowns), each spread over 1000sq.m, were sealed by the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) last year on the orders of the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee as these are located on agricultural land.

“A few months ago, I decided rent out a space in Gurugram. With no clarity on the de-sealing process, I had to sack my staff at the two stores (godowns). Business has suffered a lot in the last one year,” Malani said.

As one drives through the main Chhattarpur Road, it is hard to miss the large marble slabs wrapped tightly in thick, blue plastic sheets lying locked inside sealed shops on either side.

Amid protest by traders, nearly 80 marble shops were sealed by the corporation in December last year on the committee’s orders.

In Delhi, such warehouses are located in Alipur, Narela, Najafgarh, Chhattarpur among other areas.

To provide relief, the central government amended the Master Plan of Delhi-2021 in June this year, allowing standalone godown clusters in non-conforming areas (agricultural land).

But, according to a monitoring committee member, “The amendment is sub judice. The Supreme Court will decide on the matter.”

Traders say there is a need for a clear policy for godowns/warehouses. “People have opened godowns at alternative sites as the government didn’t provide space. Now there is a need to have a clear policy to regularise these,” said Rajkumar Bindal, member of Confederation of All India Traders.

While owners wait for the final order, they are struggling to get the regularisation procedure in place.

Pointing at the alleged callous attitude of government officials, traders say the SDMC and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) are yet to fix conversion charges for regularisation of these properties.

Six months after the Centre notified the norms for the redevelopment of godowns in non-conforming areas (villages), the south corporation recently wrote to DDA, asking it to fix conversion charges (amount to be paid by traders to regularise their property and use it for commercial purposes).

“We have been running from pillar to post to get clarity on the master plan notification. We have been pursuing the conversion charge issue with the corporation for the past few months. But it was only a few days ago that the south corporation wrote to DDA,” said Sumit Agarwal, general secretary of Marble Dealers Association South Delhi in Chattarpur market, whose godown was sealed last year.

The BJP-led corporation says that it will soon finalise the regularisation process. Shikha Rai, chairperson of standing committee, south corporation, said, “We have initiated the process to regularise godowns. We have written to DDA and will soon finalise the modalities.”

A senior DDA official said, “We are in the process of fixing conversion charges. We recently received a request from the civic agency.”

Sanjay Agarwal, another trader whose godown was sealed, said business has suffered a lot. The heavy penalty has discouraged them to even getting the godowns de-sealed. “We just want to get back to work. Even for temporary de-sealing, we are expected to pay the entire penalty amount to be paid for getting a property regularised. That is why most traders have not applied for temporary de-sealing and goods are lying inside,” said Agarwal.

The owners have approached the central government and DDA for a concession in the penalty. While amending the master plan last year, DDA had brought down the penalty from 10 times to 1.5 times. “But due to a technical error, a revision led to an increase in the amount. We have requested the Centre and DDA to look into it,” said Agarwal.