Wedding done, now where's the reception?

You have reasons to worry if you have booked one of the motels located anywhere in south and southwest Delhi for a wedding reception or a party. Neelam Pandey reports.

You have reasons to worry if you have booked one of the motels located anywhere in south and southwest Delhi for a wedding reception or a party.

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Irked with a number of motel owners who were found illegally using their premises for holding banquets, the Supreme Court appointed monitoring committee has written to the MCD asking it to start sealing such motels. A copy of the letter is with Hindustan Times.

The civic agency has to give a compliance report to the committee by February 26.

According to the civic agency, a number of motel owners have carried out illegal construction in their buildings and are using the basement of the building for carrying out commercial activities.

"We have received a letter from the monitoring committee asking us to take action and submit an action taken report," said a senior MCD official.

The committee has stated that most such motels are in south and southwest Delhi in areas such as Chattarpur, Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road, Vasant Kunj, Mahipalpur among others.

"Motels would have to continue under the category of boarding, lodging, recreational activities. Under no circumstances, banqueting is permissible in the motels (according to Master Plan of Delhi 2021)," reads the letter by the monitoring committee.

A number of basements of these motels are also being used for carrying out commercial activities such as offices, bakeries, etc.

The committee members have further stated that there are many farmhouses in the city which have altered a part of their farmhouse to run as a motel and are holding functions in the garb of it being a motel.

"A number of marriages are planned at many of these motels and taking sealing action will create a lot of problem. We will be writing to the Delhi police for arranging adequate police force," added the official.

The entire issue of motels carrying out banqueting activities surfaced when the members of the committee carried out an inspection of Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road and found a lot of unauthorised construction being carried out.