Date:08/04/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/04/08/stories/2006040823590300.htm

New Delhi

Traders rush to beat affidavit deadline

Staff Reporter

Over 9,000 affidavits received on the last day; Sadar Paharganj zone tops with 2,000

NEW DELHI: Almost all the 11 civic zones in the Capital, where the sealing exercise is going on, saw a huge rush of traders who submitted their affidavits on the last day of the Supreme Court deadline that expired on Friday. Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi sealing squads targeted 348 illegal shops during the day in the wake of the Supreme Court order to close down all commercial establishments running from residential premises across the city.

Since the Apex Court allowed trader to submit their affidavits on April 4, about 20,000 traders availed of the opportunity to prevent sealing of their properties till June 30.

On the last day of the filing of affidavits, around 9,000 affidavits were received, with the maximum number of them being from Sadar Paharganj zone (2,000 affidavits), followed by Shahdara-North (1,165), West (1,130) and Najafgarh 910.

During the past four days, maximum number of affidavits was received in Sadar Paharganj zone (3,763), followed by West (3,066), Shahdara-North (2,478) and Shahdara-South (1,877).

Meanwhile, continuing with its sealing exercise, MCD squads targeted 86 shops on Gurdwara Road and Patel Nagar in Karol Bagh zone, while 40 commercial establishments in Sadar Paharganj's Bahadurgarh Road and 37 on the stretch between Ghevra and Tikri Border in the Najafgarh zone were also sealed. Similarly, 30 shops each were sealed in the City and Civil Lines zones where action remained confined to Qutab Road and Hudson Lane respectively.

Other roads and areas covered during the drive included Bhishmpithamah Road in Central zone (19 shops); Railway Road in Rohini (29); Wazirabad Road, Bhajanpura, Khajuri, Gokulpuri and Mansarovar Park in Shahdara-North zone (24); Greater Kailash-I and East of Kailash in South zone (18) and Lajwanti Chowk in West zone (16).

It was only at Lajwanti Chowk that a few traders protested against the drive, while at other places the action remained peaceful. So far, the MCD has sealed 2,937 illegal shops across the city.