Sealing drive: Govt submits notification on 351 roads in SC

NEW DELHI: Amid discussions on the sealing drive in Delhi, the Delhi Government has kept its promise by submitting a notification in the Supreme Court that puts 351 city roads under commercial and mixed-use categories, in an attempt to save traders on these stretches from the ongoing sealing drive, a government spokesperson said on Monday.

Last week, the government informed the Delhi Assembly that it is prepared for the notification process. "The Delhi Government has submitted the notification regarding 351 roads to the Supreme Court for its approval. The government will notify the roads immediately after the approval by the SC," said Satyandar Jain, the Urban Development Minister of Delhi. The minister added that the government has appointed two senior lawyers Arvind Dattar and Parag Tripathi to represent the cases related to the sealing drive. "We urge the Central Government and the DDA to appoint senior lawyer Harish Salve to represent the sealing cases on behalf of the Centre," said Jain.

Currently, the sealing drive going on in areas other than these 351 roads, is against businesses using residential areas for commercial purposes without paying conversion charges. It is being carried out by a Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee and being implemented by the three BJP-led municipal corporations.

A delegation of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) along with the BJP and the Congress last week met members of the Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee and sought immediate relief for traders in Delhi from the sealing drive, but the panel did not give any assurance. The sealing drive by the BJP-run municipal corporations in Delhi was initiated in December last year on the direction of the apex court-appointed monitoring panel. The all-party meeting with the monitoring committee members held at Delhi Secretariat on Monday was attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and other leaders. The committee members, Bhure Lal and K J Rao, heard the suggestions and complaints of the leaders during the meeting.

Meanwhile, around seven lakh business establishments and over 3,000 commercial markets of Delhi including Chandni Chowk, Connaught Place and Lajpat Nagar will remain closed on March 28 as traders will hold a mega rally to demand protection from the sealing drive. Besides traders and their employees, families of businessmen will also participate in the rally to be held at the Ramlila grounds, Praveen Khandelwal, general secretary of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said.

Leader of Oppsition Vijender Gupta on Monday said that the Supreme Court has held mirror to the Kejriwal

Government for inaction on sealing. He said that it is now accepted by the Court that Delhi Government has not evolved comprehensive action plan in the ongoing sealing drive in Delhi.