Ordinance the only solution to present crisis: Delhi Mayor

New Delhi, Apr 3 (UNI) Delhi Mayor Satbir Singh today welcomed the initiative by five Congress MPs from Delhi to appeal to the Centre to bring an Ordinance to regularise commercial units in residential areas with 80 ft roads and wider and to stop forthwith MCD's sealing drive for a period of six months.

''The appeal made by the five Congress MPs of Delhi, including Union Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal, to the Centre to bring an Ordinance or introduce a Bill in Parliament to stop forthwith the drive being carried out by the MCD for a period of six months,is a step in the right direction. The issuance of an Ordinance to regularise commercial activities in areas with 80 ft or wider roads is the only way to resolve the present state of confusion that has arisen following the Supreme Court order,'' the Mayor told mediapersons here.

He said the sealing operation in the residential areas had implications not only for the traders but also lakhs of their employees who would be rendered unemployed following the shutting down of the traders' businesses.

Blaming the previous BJP Government for the present situation, he said,''if the provision for the mixed land use in residential areas of Delhi had been included in the Master Plan for 2001 which was formulated during the rule of the BJP, the present predicament would not have arisen.'' He said while the congress government had taken several steps with the objective of providing relief to the traders, including passing a resolution recommending to the Lieutenant Governor to allow mixed Land use on 229 roads of 60 Ft and wider, the BJP was doing nothing but shedding "crocodile tears".

Stating that the Congress MPs from Delhi planned to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this evening to urge him to ensure issuance of an Ordinance regularising commercial activities and unauthorised constructions in areas with 80 ft or wider roads, Mr Singh said he was hopeful that the confusion would end soon.

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