14 hurt in Mayapuri protest against MCD sealing drive

Thousands of factory owners, scrap dealers and employees of these establishments in Mayapuri Industrial area in west Delhi turned violent on Saturday during the sealing drive by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC).

As the sealing drive begun at 12.10 p.m., they started pelting stones at the sealing team, escorted by the security personnel. As the clashes continued, the police resorted to baton-charge to quell the protest.

The sealing team was accompanied by the Delhi Police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) personnel.

As they continued to protest and pelt stones, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Monika Bhardwaj, "we initiated baton charge to bring the situation under control. Fourteen security personnel were injured in the stone pelting."

"As we had apprehensions that the situation would turn violent, we set up team of 300 police personnel, para-military battalion to execute the orders of the NGT in Mayapuri," said Ritesh Juneja, SDM of Delhi Cantt.

Juneja, the duty magistrate and head of the sealing team, was also injured in the incident.

The sealing drive was being carried out on the directions of National Green Tribunal (NGT).

Mayapuri is a known automobiles scrap market in the national capital with an annual turnover of over Rs 8,000 crore. There are around 850 factories in the area that generate chemical, oil and toxic gas.

A petition was filed in 2014 in the green court to stop polluting units that is affecting people of the area.

--IANS

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