Slump in sales, retrenchment, traders struggle to get life back to normal

Businessmen in Khan Market and now Defence Colony market remain a harried lot as they run from pillar to post, trying to find a way to save their shops from the sealing drive. The second round of sealing in ‘Def Col’, as it is popularly called, seems to have broken their backs as they stare at an uncertain future. What started as a “drive to check irregularities” has come at a cost — many left unemployed and negligible earning.

Of the two market areas, Def Col has been the worst hit. After enduring the first incursion by officials of South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC), which sealed close to 50 establishments in December last year, traders found themselves at loggerheads again last week. Sales slumped as basements which served as a godown were sealed, causing some establishments to shut shop altogether.

Speaking about the sealing drive, Jagdish Gupta, secretary, Defence Colony Market Association said, “We are devastated. One fine day, we woke up and found that there was no source of earning because someone decided that we are running our business in violation of the law. No government agency can sweep through the city and bring everything to a standstill.”

Traders in the market claim they are being harassed in the name of sealing, with the ironical twist that it’s happening decades after they have been operating from the same shops. They claim they paid all conversion charges and their plans were duly approved by MCD, something Khan Market Welfare Association has requested New Delhi Municipal Corporation to consider.

Anshu Tandon, president of the welfare body, shared, “We are being targeted not for non-payment of conversion charges but building violations, which again is arbitrary. We paid all change of land use fee but are still awaiting commercial plans from the NDMC.”

Khan Market was initially allotted as a residential area, which was later changed to commercial. According to Tandon, all traders in Khan Market have 90 per cent compliance and have already submitted structural stability certificates to the civic body. “Now the NDMC says it’s a residential area. If that be the case, can’t we put a table and chair on the terrace and enjoy the sun? They have sealed the terrace arguing we have broken the law. It’s hilarious. At the same time, we feel harassed. Our business has suffered by as much as 80% since the sealing last week. The general impression in the market is that restaurants have been shut.”

Echoing the same agony is Gupta. Gupta echoes the sentiments of the entire trading community in Def Col when he says after running a shop for over three decades, he just does not know what to do next.

Thanks to the fear and confusion, there has not only been a loss in business but mass retrenchment as well. Gupta estimates that “10 staff per unit” have been let go, a figure that is large given that the market has around 50 establishments. Does he see a solution in sight? “We are willing to pay conversion charges, but will they give us assurance of de-sealing?”