MCD to declare areas with 100% commerce activity as commercial areas

New Delhi, Sep 4 (UNI) The Municipal Corporation of Delhi today said it was considering to designate localities with 100 per cent commercial activity as ''commercial areas.'' In a statement at a meeting of the MCD Standing Committee, Commissioner A K Nigam said designating such localities under mixed land use would involve an inordinate amount of time. Hence, the MCD was seriously considering designating them as commercial areas.

At the same time, the commissioner said, the Government could designate areas with 70 per cent or more commercial activity under mixed land use activity. Also, localities with 50 per cent commercial activities or more could be considered under the mixed land use.

The Commissioner said the MCD was in discussion with the Supreme Court-appointed Monitoring Committee for mixed land use in villages with commercial activities.

The statement by the Commissioner came following a demand by members cutting across party lines to clear the air on the issue of sealing of commercial units in residential areas to help allay fear and confusion prevailing among the common man and traders on the issue.

In his statement, the commissioner said shops catering to the daily needs of people like vegetable shops, fruit and juice shops, flower shops, bakery product shops, tailoring shops, daily use grocery items and toiletry items shops, chemist, barber, hair dressing saloon, small halwai, dairy products shops, pan, bidi and cigarette shops, stationery items, photocopier shops, cyber cafes, STD booths, laundry and dry cleaning shops, atta chakki, meat shops, liquor shops in local shopping centres were already exempt from the purview of sealing.

In this context, he also refuted media reports of schools falling under the sealing action. The recent notification by the Urban development ministry only removes pre-primary schools, fitness centers and gyms operating on floors other than ground floors from the purview of the exemption.

''No where has it been mentioned that Primary, secondary or other schools will be sealed,''he said.

Professionals like architects, chartered accountants, doctors, lawyers and computer professionals also do not fall under the purview of sealing.

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