Sealing drive: dda offers sops to pacify irked traders

Traders set to continue the protest on weekend; CAIT estimates loss of Rs 3,600 crore; AAP wants Parliament to pass a bill to resolve the issue Traders gather at Town Hall on Thursday to

demonstrate against the civic authority’s sealing drive Granting relief to thousands of traders who are bearing the brunt of the massive sealing drive, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA)

approved three proposals on Friday — higher Floor Area Ratios (FAR), reduced conversion charges and regularising agricultural godowns — to amend the Master Plan 2021. The decision was taken

in a meeting chaired by Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal who is also the chairman of the authority. The changes approved by the DDA on Friday include, increasing FAR of local shopping

complexes (LSCs) from the existing 180 per cent to 300 per cent, reducing conversion charge penalties from existing 10 times to two times and regularising agricultural godowns on 12-metre

wide roads. Even after the concessions announced by the civic body, traders have refused to call off the three-day bandh. Praveen Khandelwal from CAIT said shops will stay closed on Saturday

as well. "Even if any relief has been granted, the process is long drawn and till then the sealing drive will continue causing major losses. We will stick to our scheduled bandh and,

so far, the support has been encouraging, be it in central Delhi or south Delhi markets," said Khandelwal. Major shops in all popular markets across Delhi remained closed on Friday as

businessmen extended "full support" to the call for a two-day bandh by the CAIT against the recent sealing drive. "All the three proposals were passed in the meeting. Final

decision will be taken after a three-day public hearing," said Vijendra Gupta, member DDA and BJP MLA, who attended the meeting. Brajesh Goel from the Chamber of Trade and Industry

(CTI) said in Chandni Chowk, the response to call for bandh was similar and echoed Khandelwal's views on not going back on the proposed bandh. "We have all assembled around Town

Hall and are raising slogans against the authorities concerned. We have sought measures which provide us instant relief," said Goel. Nearly 750 market associations and 20 industrial

areas have extended support to the bandh. An exception was Nehru Place market which remained opened on Friday. CAIT estimates a combined loss of Rs. 3,600 crore to the businessmen because of

trade being disrupted in the next 48 hours. As per the Master Plan of Delhi 2021, the permissible FAR for LSCs constructed after 1962 is 180. However, the LSC shop owners were demanding

that it should be increased to 300. Sealing started in Delhi on December 22 by municipal corporations on the direction of Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee.