BJP seeks PM's help to stop sealing drive

New Delhi, Sep 28: The BJP today sought Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's intervention in the sealing and demolition drive in the national capital urging him to relieve millions of traders from ''unnecessary harassment and trauma''.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, in a letter addressed to Dr Singh, assured his party's support to the Government if legislation was brought in to mitigate the sufferings of people of the metropolis.

He said although the issue was pending before the Supreme Court, but a holistic approach would help arrive at a solution to the problem much earlier.

''I can't resist but to state that if the government would have moved with the right approach from the beginning, the solution would have arrived much earlier,'' he said.

He alleged the problem has assumed chaotic proportions due to the total failure of urban planning. The deterioration had been taking place ''under the very nose of the seat of central power'', he said.

Mr Singh urged the authorities to take a holistic view of the problem to ensure a comprehensive and permanent solution. He said a mechanism should be evolved to regularise business establishments as on December 31, 2005.

''You can also ensure immediate notification of roads idenified in additional survey by the MCD and do away with unnatural and unsustainable categorisation,'' Mr Singh said.

However, he described as ''absurd'' the Urban Development Department's notification prohibiting timber and coal traders to operate from residential areas.

UNI