Sealing drive unlikely to resume today

Sealing of commercial establishments in residential areas of the capital is unlikely to resume tomorrow because of "difficulties on the ground" in carrying out the drive even though the Municipal Corporation of Delhi has been asked by the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee to re-start the action.

While a Group of Ministers (GoM), which met to discuss the vexed issue, said it was unlikely that the sealing would start tomorrow in view of the tense situation, the MCD remained non-committal on whether it would abide by the court panel's directive.

At its meeting, the three-member apex court panel wrote to the civic body to resume the drive against illegal shops operating in residential areas tomorrow.

"The MCD will approach the Supreme Court tomorrow and apprise it of the difficulties on the ground in carrying out sealing in the present tense situation," Union Urban Development Minister S Jaipal Reddy told reporters here after the GoM meeting.

He said both the MCD and the police were of the opinion that it was difficult to carry out sealing in Delhi in the "current tense" situation.

Besides, he said, there were two major Sikh festivals falling on the weekend, which would also be brought to the notice of the court. However, to a specific query whether the sealing drive will resume from tomorrow, he said, "You can draw your own inference from what I have said."

The GoM, chaired by Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil, was told by the police that the situation in the capital continued to be tense and it would be difficult to carry out sealing for the time being.

While there was no official word from the MCD regarding its plans on resuming the drive, at least eight of the 12 Zonal Deputy Commissioners, when contacted, said they had not been issued any directions on carrying out sealing till late in the evening.