Sealing: AAP lawmakers meet members of monitoring committee

A group of lawmakers from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) today made a representation to the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee, seeking relief for traders from the ongoing sealing drive for violation of civic and urban norms, a member of the panel said.
"Politicians are making a beeline to my office. Today, some MLAs from the AAP and some members of the BJP came to our (committee's) office here. They submitted memorandums, requesting relief to the traders from sealing," one of the committee members, Bhure Lal, said.
The committee, comprising K J Rao, former advisor to the Election Commission, Lal, Chairman, Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), and Major General (retd) Som Jhingan, was set up on March 24, 2006, by the apex court.

"We will continue to take action, as mandated by the Supreme Court," Lal said.
Asked about the proposed amendment by the DDA in the Master Plan of Delhi (MPD) 2021, he said, "The amendment is yet to be approved by the urban affairs ministry."
On April 2, the apex court will hear a matter pertaining to the validity of the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006 and subsequent legislations, which protect unauthorised construction from being sealed in Delhi.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) had yesterday approved the proposed amendment to MPD 2021, which includes bringing a uniform floor-area ratio (FAR) for shop-cum-residence plots and complexes at par with residential plots.

The proposed move aims to bring relief to the traders from the sealing drive, which was initiated late December from the Defence Colony market in south Delhi, at the instance of the monitoring committee.
Meanwhile, AAP MLA Somnath Bharti, at a press conference here, said, "I and three other MLAs today met the members of the monitoring committee to verify if the sealing issue has been resolved."
"From the urban affairs ministry to the MCD and DDA, the departments fall under the BJP-rule. So, if any relief can be brought for the traders, it can be done only by the BJP," he said.

Bharti alleged that the BJP had been saying that with these proposed amendments, a relief had been ensured, "but it is merely a lie and and the next step in 'jumlebazi' by it".
"We asked the committee members, will the (proposed amendments) ensure that the sealing will stop and whether a sealed property will be de-sealed, but they remained tight-lipped on it. Also, the matter is to come up before the Supreme Court on April 2," the AAP leader said.
"By bringing a one-page ordinance in the Lok Sabha, the BJP can stop the sealing drive, but it is running away from it. We want to expose it," he added.

Meanwhile, 15 properties were today sealed in areas falling under the jurisdiction of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), the civic body said.
Thirteen units were also sealed in north Delhi, the NDMC said.
Many traders, under the banner of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), burnt effigies in different parts of the city to protest against the sealing drive.