MCD sends notice to 30 properties in Delhi’s Kamla Nagar

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi has issued show cause notices to more than 30 shops in north Delhi’s Kamla Nagar market accusing them of using residential property for commercial activities, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday. MCD has given the shops three days to respond to the notices otherwise their properties will be sealed, they added.
The shops which have received notices include apparel stores, tattoo shops, and salons. HT has seen copies of several such notices.
“Around 30 such notices have been issued by the building department. This is harassment of legitimate businesses. Many of these shops are located on streets such as Mandelia Road where the process for notification as commercial and mixed land use has been started by MCD itself. People have paid conversion charges so why are traders being served these notices?” said Nitin Gupta, president of the Kamla Nagar traders’ association.
One show cause notice issued by the building department of Keshavpuram zone says: “It has been brought to my notice by the field staff that the portion of the premise is being misused (commercial activity) at the instance of owner/occupier which violates permissible sanctioned use of the property and against the provision of Master Plan 2021.”
The notice from an assistant engineer adds that after considering the reports and having gone through files, the department is satisfied that the premise is being misused and the case would be processed as per Sections 345 A and 347 of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act — the sections about restrictions on uses of buildings and power of commissioner to require alteration of work. “You are requested to submit a reply within three days as to why the aforesaid premise should not be sealed as commercial activity is not permitted,” it adds. The traders have also been directed to file affidavits saying that they will not misuse their premises.
An MCD spokesperson said: “A general survey of Mandelia Road (Kamla Nagar) was carried out in December to determine the payments of misuse and conversion charges. The letters have been issued to the owners and occupiers of the commercial establishments misusing the premises to submit proof of payment made to MCD on account of misuse. In case, the conversion charges have not been paid the same may be paid by the concerned unit. In case there are units running with non-permitted activities, the same may be stopped immediately.”
New Delhi has recently seen sealing activity with several units being sealed in Connaught Place over non-payment of property taxes. Delhi has seen multiple sealing drives in commercial hubs in the past few decades over issues related to land use, master plan violations, illegal construction, and non-payment of taxes, among others.
The city saw its first large-scale sealing and demolition drive in 2006 when more than 5,000 properties across the Capital were shut. That drive was stopped after the central government intervened and enacted the Delhi Laws (Special Provisions) Act, 2006, to protect hundreds of thousands of properties. In 2012, the Supreme Court once again stopped the monitoring committee from sealing premises across the city. However, the powers of the monitoring committee were restored in December 2017, and the first set of sealing occurred on December 21 that year — at Chhatarpur and Defence Colony. Soon after, sealing drives occurred in markets located in Amar Colony, Greater Kailash, Green Park, Hauz Khas, and Meharchand Market.