New Delhi: Commercial establishments
operating illegally in farm houses and other places in nearly
400 rural areas and urbanised villages of Delhi are expected
to get a reprieve soon as the government is planning to bring
an Ordinance to freeze sealing and demolition for a year.
Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) had restarted the
sealing and demolition drive in the capital after the earlier
Ordinance expired on December 31 last.
"A Cabinet note proposing the Ordinance to extend the
Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2009 has been sent to
ministries concerned seeking their comments on the issue.
After receipt of their inputs, the note will be sent to the
Cabinet for its approval," a senior Urban Development Ministry
official said to a news agency.
The applicability of the Act was only till December 31,
2010.
The Ordinance aims at providing protection to various
categories of unauthorised constructions for which no policy
decision has been taken, the official said.
The Ordinance will be converted into an Act after its
introduction and passge in the Budget session of Parliament.
The 2009 Act, whose applicability was till December 31,
last year, provided immunity from sealing and demolition to
high-end showrooms in villages, farm houses and affluent
colonies across the capital.
This includes shops located on Kalka Dass Marg in
Mehrauli, high-end designer furniture showrooms on Mehrauli-
Gurgaon Road, Shah Pur Jat, Hauz Khas Village and other rural
and urbanised villages.
The Urban Development Ministry failed to bring in a Bill
in the Winter Session of Parliament to extend the moratorium
because of pandemonium over 2G spectrum scam.
There are around 200 rural villages and 180-odd
urbanised villages, where commercial activities are being
carried out. Designer hubs and boutiques in areas such as
Shahpur Jat, Mehrauli, Munirka Gaon, Hauz Khas, Katwaria
Sarai, Yusuf Sarai among others are facing sealings due to the
expiry of the Act.
PTI
