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MCD sealing squads swing into action in south Delhi
The sealing operations face little resistance from traders in Ashram area. Big cities, small minds | Pics | Have your say
Sealing squads got into action from early Wednesday, closing down shopping complexes in south Delhi's Srinivaspuri area, as a tense city braced for trouble with the resumption of operations to shut unauthorised commercial establishments in residential areas.
The CTC Plaza, the Thapar business centre and the Bata showroom on the busy Ashram road were sealed by a 12-member team of the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) that had reached the spot at 8.30 am. A slum cluster behind the shops had been removed earlier in the morning.
Hundreds of security personnel from the Border Security Force (BSF), Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Delhi Police were at hand to ensure that no violence took place. However, traffic came to a standstill on the congested road leading to jams.
The sealing operations, following orders from the Supreme Court monitoring committee, met with little resistance from traders at Ashram.
The move comes a day after traders in the capital called for a daylong strike Tuesday following a Supreme Court directive to the government to immediately resume sealing operations.
According to Deputy Municipal Commissioner, South Zone, SK Bhandari, "There is no question of targeting A and B category colonies specifically as reported by some news channels. Sealing will start with those establishments which have filed affidavits in the court."
About 44,000 establishments had filed affidavits in the Supreme Court earlier this year to get temporary reprieve from sealing. The current sealing drive would initially target these establishments on the directions of the apex court.
"Out of the 12 MCD zones in the capital, the sealing drive is likely to resume in about 10 as hardly any affidavits have been filed from Narela and Najafgarh," said a senior MCD official.
Main markets in MCD areas like Karol Bagh, South Extension and Lajpat Nagar have been closed.
Schools in the capital have also been closed since Tuesday as they were during the three-day strike last week.
