New Delhi, February 2: As part of the 48-hour Delhi Bandh starting today, popular markets in the national capital including Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, Khan Market among others have been completely shut. Traders and businessmen went on a two-day strike to protest against ongoing sealing of business establishments in the city.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), which claims the support of 2,000 traders’ associations in the national capital, has called for a bandh on Friday and Saturday. It must be noted that the bandh comes despite repeated assurances by the government. The sealing issue is also rocked the Rajya Sabha on Friday and is now listed to be discussed on Monday. The sealing of business in Delhi began after Supreme Court appointed a monitoring committee which said that all the commercial establishments flouting provisions of the 2021 Master Plan will be sealed. As per reports by NDTV, over 600 shops across 100 shopping complexes in the national capital have been sealed over the past few weeks.

Praveen Khandelwal of Confederation Of All India Traders said the ongoing sealing drive was very harmful to the nation’s economy. “Almost 2,500 markets will be closed. Protest marches against sealing would be taken out by businessmen in around 500 markets. The ongoing sealing is very harmful to our economy,” he added.

Most major markets of Delhi, including Connaught Place and Khan Market, have decided to remain closed this Friday and Saturday to protest the ongoing sealing drive. In the last month, Union Minister for Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri has said that the Centre was planning to amend the Master Plan 2021 for Delhi to provide a relief to traders from the ongoing sealing drive in the national capital. Under the 2021 Master Plan, traders using properties for mixed purposes have to pay a one-time conversion charge at the rate notified by Delhi Government, reports said.

Here's the list of popular markets that would be closed in protest against Delhi Sealing:

  1. Connaught Place

  2. Lajpat Nagar

  3. Krishna Nagar

  4. Chandni Chowk

  5. Karol Bagh

  6. Greater Kailash

  7. Gandhi Nagar

  8. Kamla Nagar

  9. Rajouri Garden

  10. Tilak Nagar

  11. Khan Market

  12. Defence Colony

  13. South Extension

  14. Green Park

  15. Rajinder Nagar

DDA member and BJP MLA Vijender Gupta said three proposals regarding amendments to Delhi Master Plan 2021 have been passed. “Three proposals about amendments to 2021 Master Plan of Delhi have been passed. Period of the proposal being put in the public domain has been reduced from 45 days to 3 days. The proposals will be approved in another DDA meeting at LG house after 3 days,” Gupta said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 02, 2018 05:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).