Sealing of units, much ado about little

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, DEC. 22. Is the sealing of polluting units in the Capital being blown out of proportion deliberately by parties and the politicians to gain cheap mileage or is it their genuine concern for lakhs of affected people?

The percentage of industrial units inspected and sealed and the peaceful manner in which the operation has progressed, apparently, throws up an entirely different picture.

Till now of the total number of units visited by the enforcement squads and those sealed does not exceed more than 30 per cent. On Thursday only a little over 10 per cent of the units were found polluting. Not only this, at nearly 50 per cent of the premises, no units were found operating at all for years. And at many other places, the searched premises consisted of residential accommodation.

The picture emerging from the entire exercise in the past few days gives the impression that the ruckus is being created by politicians and parties aimed at scoring political points.

Both the BJP and the Congress(I) have launched a campaign against what they alleged the ``indiscriminate'' closure of industries but have failed to come out with a single instance where people faced harassment at the hands of the enforcement teams, or industrial units were sealed indiscriminately.

They have also preferred to turn a blind eye to the ``big fraud'' detected during the sealing operations wherein people had given fictitious addresses and occupations to avail the benefits of the relocation scheme.

The drive has also proved that the surveys carried out by various agencies, including the MCD and the Delhi Government, were incomplete and erratic. It also cannot be ruled out that some officials and political leaders have connived to play this fraud on the Government. This policy of land grab for speculative purposes now stands exposed.

The claims of the former Chief Minister, Mr. Madan Lal Khurana, that lakhs had been displaced and rendered unemployed and they were protesting, do not hold water as by and large, the sealing exercise had remained peaceful.

The fact is that none other than polluting ones in the non- conforming areas were being targetted and that also after going through the proper procedure. His claims that atta chakki and services like dry cleaning shops, cycle and scooter repair shops were being sealed have been proved to be untrue.

The Urban Development Minister, Mr. Jagmohan, who has received overwhelming response for his drive to restore some sense of accountability, has clarified that these type of small units and industries do not come under the sealing category and provision for these have been made in the Master Plan. His efforts have been applauded by various sections giving an indication that people were fed up with the lawlessness.

On the political front, the Congress has stolen the march as far as fighting for the industrial workers is concerned. While the party and its Government in Delhi have managed to put up a united show, the same cannot be said for the BJP.

While efforts are on in the BJP to isolate Mr. Khurana the Delhi BJP unit has preferred to stand by Mr. Jagmohan. Sharp differences have emerged among the BJP leaders due to which the party has failed to take up the cause of the affected people.

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