90% sweet shops in Delhi unlicensed

Indian festivals are not complete without sweets but this Diwali be careful from where you buy them as 90% shops in the city selling them are not licensed, according to the Municipal Corporation Delhi (MCD).

Only 10% of the shops selling products like sweets, pastries, juices and confectionery products have the health trade licence.

"Most of them don't apply for a license and and the rest do not get it as their documents are incomplete. When they are advised to complete the documentation for getting a license, they never turn up. Today, such shops are mushrooming in the city," Dr VK Monga, MCD, health committee chairman said.

"Shahdara has 125 such shops. Since these shops are unlicensed, their products cannot be guaranteed," he said.

To get a health trade licence, a shopkeeper must cater to the master plan approved by the MCD. There should be a proper sewer connection, proper Jal Board connection and sanitation should be properly maintained, he said.

The shopkeeper must decide in advance the product to be sold so that the area based on it is allocated to them. Monga said that many of those who had requested for license had lied about the products they would be selling. Ultimately, their license was withdrawn.

"Such shops are constantly flouting rules. Many have come near roadsides blocking traffic," he said.