Delhi govt to move SC seeking 'temporary ban' on sealing drive

New Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Tuesday his government will move the Supreme Court seeking a "temporary ban" on the ongoing sealing drive in Delhi, after his meeting with BJP leaders on the issue ended in hostility.

Kejriwal said if the Centre, the L-G and the BJP wanted, not a single shop would have been sealed in the national capital, alleging that the saffron party was doing politics on the issue.

He also said the BJP was diverting the attention from the sealing drive.

The chief minister said all the three municipal commissioners have sought two more days' to submit a survey report to the government to change the land use of 351 roads to commercial and mixed land use so that there is no sealing on these roads in the future.

"If the survey report comes in two days, we will submit it to the Supreme Court in this week," he said.

Meanwhile, Kejriwal visited markets in Chandni Chowk and other areas and interacted with traders hit by sealing drive.

Civic bodies have undertaken the sealing drive initiated by a Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee. Commercial premises have been sealed for failing to deposit conversion charges according to provisions in Master Plan 2021.

The AAP has demanded that the Central government should either bring an ordinance or amend Delhi Master Plan 2021 to stop sealing.

The BJP, on the other hand, demanded that the AAP dispensation should come out with a notification on mix land use to give a relief to the city's traders.