Big relief for Lajpat Nagar traders as SC panel deseals shops

New Delhi: Shopkeepers of the ladies garments market in Amar Colony, Lajpat Nagar 4 are preparing to celebrate Diwali for the first time in five years after the new order from the Supreme Court’s Monitoring Committee to deseal their shops.

The renowned double storey market is part of the land given to Sikh and Hindu families for refuge during Partition. But over time, as some families moved out or sold their properties, commercial shops began to emerge in the residential area, which violated the building bylaws and the shops had also started to encroach on public land.

The shopkeepers had to acquire legal documents to be allowed to continue their businesses within the 10 ft x 17.5 ft of residential land given to them.

During inspections in 2018, the 392 shops failed to produce their supplementary lease agreement that would permit them to legally run their shops, and as a result, they were sealed.

“Overnight, all of us lost our businesses and way of earnings. We had to open shops on rent to survive while we tried to get the necessary documents, but with the procedure being extremely slow, only 78 out of 392 of us managed to get our documents. We requested the Monitoring Committee for years to let us open our shops and take affidavits from us agreeing to acquire the supplementary lease, and finally they have listened to us,” said Manohar Chawla, member of the Lajpat Nagar Market Association, whose shop Rani Sahiba had also been affected.

Mayor Shelly Oberoi, had announced on October 21 that according to the Monitoring Committee’s orders the shopkeepers will be able to reopen their businesses before Diwali after completing formalities like submitting an undertaking regarding the supplementary lease deed, paying misuse use and any outstanding conversion and parking charges.

These charges range in amount depending on the trader and their outstanding dues.

“The entire process takes about 10-15 days. First, we have to pay the misuse charge to the Land and Development (L&D) Office, who will then inform the Monitoring Committee about it. Then, we will go to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) for conversion and parking charges. Once all these dues are cleared, the Monitoring Committee will allow us to reopen the shops,” explained Chawla, while expressing gratitude for the committee’s decision.